Mickey Harte hails the impact of vital Louth substitutes in Meath triumph

Anybody that has read reports on this site over the past few weeks or attended the games themselves knows that Louth do nothing easy. But what harder challenge could they face then a wounded Meath, desperate to secure a win on home soil.

That is what was in front of the Wee County on Sunday afternoon. History was against them, the bookies were against them and most pundits only saw this game as a victory for the Royals.

In the end they were proved wrong, in a spectacular game that saw both teams have their time to shine. Having trailed by four early in the first half, and again by five as the tie entered its third final, many Louth teams would’ve succumbed to the pressure.

But not this side, whose resilience earned them a hard fought and well deserved three-point victory. Given their rarity, it was a triumph which was rightly celebrated by their manager Mickey Harte.

“It was big win, as it was a huge challenge us coming here” he exclaimed when speaking to the large media scrum eager to hear his thoughts post-match.

“As Colm O’Rourke said after Meath’s loss against Derry, he believed there would be a backlash and that they would show their worth. I think they did that today.

“We did well against the breeze to be even in the game at half time, after a poor start from us. So, I’m just pleased that they dug a contest out of something that looked like it was going away from us.”

Adding to this triumph is the fact the Wee County were hit with a series of big losses early in the first half, with three starters benched in the first 20 minutes and Dan Corcoran not even making it into the starting 15 after taking a knock in the warm up.

But Louth are in as better place, from a squad depth point of view, then ever before. And Harte was never worried about how those coming into the fray would fair. He knew they had it in them to make a huge contribution.

“There’s a squad here that know the way we play the game and how we want to play the game. They have to be able to fit it, not just come in as an individual and say I’m in for somebody else. There in to be part of the cogs and the wheels that is Louth Football.

“We tell the players it is not a 15 man game. It’s not all about having a settled team. It’s about having a squad that is capable of playing at any given moment. Credit to the men who went in, they made an impact as that is what you need, people who’ll positively affect the game.”

Of course, you can’t gloss over the part of the game Meath fans will say was the turning point. On 24 minutes Harry O'Higgins was red carded for a high challenge on Ciaran Murphy. 

Royal supporters will say that is what got Louth over the line. While the Tyrone native admitted the extra man helped as the tie creeped past 70 minutes, overall he doesn’t think a sending off has the same advantage that it once did.

“In the modern game, it is not like it used to be. When there was a sending off, everyone was working out who was the spare man, who’s free. Life is not like that anymore because it a unit game now. A whole host of players working for each other.

“I don’t think you could look in and say we had a spare man, we really didn’t. It was 15 versus 14 of course out there, but the collective is what matters. And that 14 Meath collective was very effective.

“I think that bit of extra steam at the end counted because we had the extra body, but it is not like it used to be when the spare man was a serious advantage to a team. It just isn’t like that anymore.”

With four rounds of fixtures out of the way, Louth are on four points and are mid table in fourth position, level on points with Cork above them and Meath below them. The table toppers are currently Derry and Dublin who sit on eight apiece.

Meanwhile the bottom spots are filled by Limerick on zero points, with Clare and this Sunday's opponents Kildare (who travel to Ardee, throw in 2PM) sitting on two points. Harte is happy to finally be looking up rather then down, but stressed their target is still just survival.

“Theres some points on the board. Is it enough to stay up here, that is the million-dollar question. But at least it gives you a fighting chance. At this stage we’re happy to be in the mix for survival in this division. If we can do that, we’d be very pleased.”