Louth hurlers close to safety following valuable victory over Fermanagh

Allianz League Hurling Division 3A Round 4

Louth 0-19 Fermanagh 1-15

Louth have given their hopes of surviving in Division 3A for another season a huge boost following a hard-fought victory over Fermanagh in Darver.

The Wee County knew they were as good as relegated should they lose out to their Ulster rivals, who were a point clear of them in the table going into the fourth round of fixtures. With the victory they could now even make the league semi-finals should they beat Mayo this Saturday.

Paul McCormack’s side brought a three-point lead into the break, and when they increased this margin to seven around the 48-minute mark it looked as though there was only going to be one winner.

However, the Ernesiders didn’t give up and backed by a goal from Aidan Flanagan they brought the contest level once more with five minutes of normal time remaining.

The tie was all square as we entered into injury time, but when it mattered most Louth were able to hold out Fermanagh, staying marginally in front with a couple of late scores and some strong defending at the death to eke out a narrow one-point triumph that should secure their safety.

It was a rapid fire start to proceedings in Darver, with Ryan Bogue giving the visitors the lead inside the opening 60 seconds, before being cancelled out soon after by a nice score from Mark Gahan.

The visitors had a lot of possession in the opening ten minutes and created plenty of opportunities, but their strike rate throughout the contest was poor. Inside the first 10 minutes they had already registered five wides and they ended the day with a total of 17.

Joe Baldwin’s troops were hunting in packs early on and making life tough for the men in red, who were struggling to get into scoring positions. Bogue was Fermanagh’s playmaker for much of the contest, his passes often crucial to his side creating scoring chances.

But their struggles in front of the posts meant they didn’t create any sort of real gap, and despite Aidan Flanagan putting them back in front on seven minutes, a brace from Darren Geoghegan via placed balls put Louth ahead for the first time.

The men from Ulster never led again and were chasing the tie from here on in. Danann McKeogh did at least notch an equaliser for his side and also cancelled out another point from Geoghegan to leave the sides all square after 23 minutes, 0-4 apiece.

Louth began wrestling control of the contest from here and despite Fermanagh quickly closing them down and seemingly leaving the home side with little space to shoot, it was not stopping them from bagging scores as time and time again the forwards either wriggled free or were fouled.

Three in a row via Geoghegan and a rapid-fire brace from Sean Kerrisk saw the Wee County open up the biggest gap to date, all while keeping the visitors scoreless for 10 minutes as the home side took advantage of the wind.

Conor Murphy was another good target man for Louth and it was the Naomh Moninne clubman who was fouled just before half time, resulting in another free that was calmly slotted over by Geoghegan.

It left the hosts 0-8 to 0-5 in front as they went back into the dressing rooms for half time. Louth would be happy to be in front, but it could’ve been better as goals chances were scuppered by Murphy and Sean Conneely. But overall, it was a solid showing from McCormack’s troops.

Knowing what was on the line and the importance staying in this division is to the long-term development of hurling in the county, the home side came out with a greater purpose in the second half. Such was their dominance they seemingly killed off the tie a little over 20 minutes remaining.

Kerrisk and Geoghegan came out with a quickly taken brace to increase Louth’s lead almost immediately after the restart.

Daniel Teague would reply, utilising the wind with a free from distance. But Louth were defending better as the tie wore on, forcing Fermanagh to shoot from tough angles and it resulted in four more of their efforts finishing left or right of the posts.

Meanwhile, another three scores from Geoghegan, Ryan Walsh and Gahan had the home side 0-13 to 0-6 in front.

Being another county where the small ball game is overshadowed greatly by football, Fermanagh too knew how important survival in Division 3A is to their future. And they weren’t going to give up in such a significant game without a fightback.

After enduring such a barren spell up front, the Ernesiders finally got their shooting boots on, as four in a row from Francis McBrien, McKeogh, Teague and Dylan Bannon reduced the deficit to three points.

They then really turned the game on its head around the hour mark when securing what turned out to be the only goal of the match.

Fermanagh regained possession of the sliotar in their own half following a long-range puck out from Louth keeper Dan O’Neill. From distance Caolan Duffy launched it in towards the square and it was Aidan Flanagan who reacted quickest to bury home a vital goal.

Two Geoghegan frees either side of that three-pointer kept Louth marginally in front, but the momentum seemed to be now with the visitors as Teague and John Paul McGarry raised white flags to leave the teams level, 1-11 to 0-15, with just a few minutes of normal time remaining.

It could’ve been worse only for the intervention of Dan O’Neill, who made a huge save to deny McGarry from close range, as Fermanagh’s attacking surge continued.

Louth to their credit bounced back nicely. Geoghegan pointed via a well struck free and after they won possession from the resulting puck out Kerrisk grabbed another vital score which left the men in red two in front.

The Louth backs were under significant pressure at this stage and could no longer rely on Fermanagh missing, two in a row from Duffy and Sean Corrigan seeing them regain clarity.

But when it mattered most, they could rely on their forwards, two scores within 60 seconds of each other from Liam Molloy and Stephen Stafford putting them back in front.

The men in green and white did peg back one score, but at this late stage goals were all that was on their minds, with Louth showing enough defensively late on to keep them at bay and record a win that may be enough to keep them in this division for a third year in a row.  

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Mayo are the visitors to Darver this Saturday afternoon (throw in 2PM). They were comfortable 5-25 to 0-13 victors over table toppers Monaghan last Sunday, but had only a single point to their name prior to this win.

Which version of the Western outfit turns up this weekend will surely decide how this game goes down, but both teams will be keen to grab the victory.

A loss for Mayo and win from Fermanagh over Armagh would see them relegated, so you have to expect a massive game from them.  A win for the Ernesiders and a loss to Mayo is the only result that brings Louth into the relegation picture, in what is a tight league table.

There is also chances for both teams to make the league play offs with a win, adding another intriguing note to this fixture.

Louth: Dan O’Neill; Adam Plunkett, Danny Morgan, Ronan Mulholland; Conall Shaw, Liam Molloy (0-1), Jamie McDonnell; Peter Fortune, Aaron McGuinness; Ryan Walsh (0-1), Seaghan Conneely, Mark Gahan (0-3); Sean Kerrisk (0-4), Conor Murphy, Darren Geoghegan (0-9, 0-5 frees, 0-1 65). Subs: Stephen Stafford (0-1) for Gahan (66), Andrew Mackin for Kerrisk (72).

Fermanagh: Mark Curry; Sean McKendry, Rory Porteous, Ciaran Duffy; Aidan Flanagan (1-1), Ryan Bogue (0-1 free), Ronan McGurn; Ciaran Breslin, Thomas Cleary; Caolan Duffy (0-1), Daniel Teague (0-5, 0-3 frees, 0-1 65), Brian Teehan; Sean Corrigan (0-1), Shea Curran, Danann McKeogh (0-3 frees). Subs: John Paul McGarry (0-1) for Curran (29), Francis McBrien (0-1) for McGurn (37), Dylan Bannon (0-1) for McKeogh (52), Ben Corrigan for Teehan (56).

Referee: James Clarke (Cavan)