Louth's utopian campaign continues with impressive Kildare victory

Louth 2-11
Kildare 0-12

Louth’s utopian Division 2 campaign continued on Sunday last, with an unerringly comfortable five point win over Kildare at DEFY Páirc Mhúire.

This is a visiting team, remember, that laid it on thick, only nine short months ago in the Leinster championship.

Sixteen points was the difference on that chastening day but Louth are a completely different entity now and proved it in the citadel of Ardee.

The day began in bizarro circumstances with Louth supporters greeted with the news that the day’s entertainment had already been sold out.

A scramble and plea for tickets ensued and ended with Louth more or less wrapping the whole game up by half time.

Those numbers backed up the hype around Louth football at the moment.

Niall Sharkey decided to do what three of his other teammates failed to do in the opening stages. The Tallanstown man lashed over the bar to continue the Navan goodwill that the players entered the field with.

Instead of rueing the early misses, this Louth side didn't show any signs of being unnerved. Instead they continued to play and focus on the task at hand.

Tommy Durnin is the great totem of resilience at the moment and one that Mickey Harte has crafted and chipped away at in all three season’s.

In the best way possible Durnin craves attention and that makes him so pickable after a run of games perfecting the impact sub role.

So, despite Harte’s reluctance, Durnin forces himself into the starting fifteen and backs it up.

By the 9th minute, the former Westerns man linked up with Sam Mulroy and fired a low left footed shot past Mark Donnellan who was making his forgettable 100th appearance for the Lilywhites.

With that settler in tow, Louth held off Paddy Woodgate and the dangerous Neil Flynn without being overly threatened. 

When Darragh Kirwan fired over from distance it was a good sign for Louth more so than the visitors.

It lulled Glenn Ryan’s side into a falsehood that they could win the game by shooting from distance.

Foolish as it was, it suited Louth right down to the ground and also pushed Kildare further out the field.

Their chances of scoring a first league goal dwindled at that very moment. Sam Mulroy extended Louth’s dominance with free’s but an injury to his hamstring presented his teammates and Harte an opportunity to see how they would cope without the talisman.

With Kildare’s ineptitude, Louth didn’t have to worry but it did lift the visitors in the short term with two quick fire scores from Woodgate and Ben McCormack.

As annoying as Louth’s lack of coverage on League Sunday is, there would have been greater irritation if the home side only led by two at the break.

Conor Grimes thankfully drove through the gap to provide that deserved margin between the sides just before half time to make it 2-6 to 0-7.

Some neat build up play to the decisive major from Liam Jackson and Leonard Grey was in stark contrast to Kildare’s painful attacks.

So with the five points of daylight between the two outfits, and a half to play, all Louth chatter at half time was about safety and possible promotion.

The low ebb Kildare found themselves in coming into the game proved not to be a hoodwink and Louth’s consistency ensured the second half would be a drab affair.

Key second half player Ciarán Downey enjoyed Mulroy’s absence the most. The blues forward manfully picked up more and more possession from deep and made the right decision most of the time.

Kirwan and Woodgate added to their tallies but Gavin Devlin’s training has made sure Louth have learned from the slumps of the past.

Ryan Burns was plucked from obscurity to play for the first time since his sub appearance in Clare.

The Hunterstown Rover spun the ball over the bar and Louth held that ability to let the wind out of Kildare’s sails whenever they wanted to.

As well as managing the scoreboard, Louth manipulated Kildare and mainly Daniel Flynn into coughing up easy possession time and time again.

Credit must go to Ciarán Murphy at centre back who was in the thick of these turnovers more often than not. Fan favourite Tommy Durnin then cemented his place in the hearts of Louth supporters with a defiant score from the outside of his boot.

All that was left to do for Louth was counter at will and effortlessly close out the contest. Navan heroes Craig Lennon and Bevan Duffy took no chances to run through and sensibly hand pass the ball over the bar. 

All the while, the two suave scores denied Glenn Ryan’s charges the lift of a saved goal attempt or a boost to comeback and snatch an unlikely victory.

Whispers of both safety and promotion were heard all around the pitch as family, friends and supporters mingled with jubilant players on an historic day for Louth football.

Since the restructuring,  it was the first time Louth won three consecutive Division 2 matches in a row and my, how those lucky enough to be there on the day enjoyed it.

LOUTH: James Califf; Donal McKenny, Peter Lynch, Niall Sharkey 0-1; Leonard Grey, Ciarán Murphy, Conall McKeever; Conor Early, Tommy Durnin 1-2; Conor Grimes 1-0, Sam Mulroy 0-2 (2f), Liam Jackson; Dáire McConnon 0-2 (1m, 1f), Ciarán Downey 0-1, Ryan Burns 0-1.

Subs: Bevan Duffy 0-1 for Grimes (HIA 6-14), Grimes for Duffy (14), Craig Lennon 0-1 for Mulroy (29), Conal McCaul for Burns (57), Duffy for Jackson (62), Jay Hughes for McConnon (68).

KILDARE: Mark Donnellan, Mick O’Grady, Shea Ryan, Jack Sargent 0-1; David Hyland, Kevin Flynn, Paddy McDermott; Kevin Feely, Kevin O’Callaghan; Eoin Doyle, Ben McCormack 0-1, Neil Flynn 0-3 (2f); Paddy Woodgate 0-3 (2f), Darragh Kirwan 0-2, Daniel Flynn 0-1.

Subs: Aaron Masterson for Feely (ht), Mike Joyce for McDermott (ht), Cian McMonagle for McCormack (48), Jack Robinson for Kirwan (55), Barry Coffey 0-1 for N Flynn (63).

REFEREE: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).