LEINSTER SFC FIRST ROUND: Louth 1-13 Carlow 1-11:ONE OF the things that fill the start of the championship with great anticipation is the never-ending possibility that any one team could break from the shadows and light up the summer – however marginally plausible that may be in the true context of football's hierarchy.
The dream is what keeps the possibility alive, even when those dreams rarely come true. Who knows what dreams Louth and Carlow brought to Parnell Park but if this is the best they have to offer then their possibilities may not even get to shine – not in the sun, anyway, if this weather lasts.
It was wet, dull and gloomy, the sort of conditions associated with a poor league match in the middle of winter – which for long periods was exactly what it felt like. Obviously the two teams can’t be blamed when it’s more like football on ice than football on summer sod, when handling the ball seems about as futile as handling a bar of soap in the shower. If they’d yelled help in the final few minutes someone may well have sent in the lifeboat.
It’s just neither team suggested that even if it was fine and sunny they might be a football force going somewhere. Louth were definitely the better team and booked their date with Laois on June 14th with the sort of performance that against any other opposition would probably have come up short.
It’s not that Carlow were particularly bad, but it was a wonder they were still in the game in the final minutes, chasing a late goal that would have produced an upset very early on the championship form book.
But if Louth do improve, along with the weather, more importantly, they will certainly put it up to Laois. They’re a big, physical side, first of all, able to kick and pass the ball with accuracy, at least when concentrating. Their enduring weakness is their tendency to drift out of the game, just when they should be closing it out.
Eamonn McEneaney, in his fourth year as manager, has assembled a well-balanced team, particularly from midfield up. Brian White had a good game and took the spotlight from Patrick Kennan at midfield, while all six starting forwards chipped in with a score or more.
Ronan Carroll was in fine form at centre forward, Darren Clarke was typically active in both halves, and Raymond Finnegan’s searing run produced the Louth goal on 16 minutes which was ultimately the difference between the sides – at least on the scoreboard.
In defence they were tight early on, but soon fell into their old bad habits. Dessie Finnegan was fairly foolproof at full back, and Michael Fanning was always busy at centre back, yet too many of the Louth defenders were marked absent in the final minute of normal time when Carlow substitute Simon Rea – just back from injury – stole inside for a well-finished goal, which reduced the margin to just two points.
Only a minute of injury-time was played – too little and too late for Carlow to salvage something more remarkable than a two-point defeat. They weren’t helped when Derek Hayden gave himself an early shower 15 minutes beforehand, yellow-carded for a second time, after some blatant dissent directed at the match referee.
Carlow needed the extra man in those final 15 minutes if they were to honestly wrestle this one from Louth, and Hayden’s silly dismissal made the difficult task impossible.
The amazing thing is that they were still in there with a chance. Louth looked so superior early on the whole thing was in danger of becoming a one-team show. Carlow’s first shot didn’t come until the 11th minute, when Eric McCormack hit the first of his six frees, yet against all expectations they went a point up, 0-3 to 0-2, shortly afterwards and with that the game briefly turned interesting.
Yet only one point broke the boredom of the final 10 minutes of the first half, and that went to Carlow – deftly scored by corner back Shane Myers. That meant only Finnegan’s goal separated them, but still Louth always appeared dominant enough to survive without much of a scare.
Conditions went from bad to worse in the second half, and at one point the Parnell Park stewards reportedly considered switching on the floodlights. That would have at least brightened up the pitch, though not the mood of the game – which rambled along without a sniff of excitement.
It was point-for-point for a long while, the problem with that being Louth were always four points clear and thus relatively safe.
Both White and Keenan hit big scores from midfield and Finnegan added a point to his goal to help keep the scoreboard ticking over in their favour – and enough to survive Carlow’s final rally.
LOUTH: S Reynolds; P Rath, D Finnegan, J O'Brien; D Crilly, M Fanning, G Hoey; B White (0-1), P Keenan (0-1); R Finnegan (1-1), R Carroll (0-2), D Reid (0-1); C Judge (0-1), S Lennon (0-1), D Clarke (0-4, one free). Subs:JP Rooney (0-1) for Judge (50 mins), A Reid for Reid (63 mins), P Smith for Lennon (66 mins).
CARLOW: J Clarke; S Myers (0-1), J Hayden, K Nolan (0-1); S Gannon, B English, S Redmond; J Murphy, W Minchin; B Murphy, D Hayden, JJ Smith; E McCormack (0-7, six frees), D St Ledger (0-1), M Carpenter (0-1). Subs: S Rea (1-0) for Minchin (half time), D Phelan for Smith (45 mins), D Molloy for Murphy (60 mins), J Kavanagh for Carpenter, V Kavanagh for Gannon (both 64 mins).
Referee:P Sinnott (Westmeath).
