'It's one of the stories of the year' - Seán Kavanagh on Louth's quarter final achievement

Former footballers Seán Kavanagh and Cora Staunton had lots of praise to give the Louth side following their bitter defeat to Donegal on Sunday.

Despite exceptional performances from Tommy Durnin and Sam Mulroy, Donegal kept Louth at arm's length throughout to book an All-Ireland SFC semi-final encounter with Galway.

Jim McGuinness' men led from pillar to post in Croke Park this afternoon with an upset never on the cards for Ger Brennan's Louth side as Donegal put the foot on the throttle from the start.

The former Tyrone and Mayo footballers joined RTÉ's Sunday Game panel to give their views on the gripping quarter-final, with Kavanagh saying that Louth's 18 points "will win most games of football".

"They were the last Leinster team left in the All-Ireland Championship, who would have thought you would be saying that!" Kavanagh said after the game. 

"I fully expect Sam Mulroy to get an All-Star, which reflects their performances of Durnin, of McKeever, all of them.

"It also reflects how they've managed to turn a bad situation in terms of losing their management towards the back end of last year. Ger Brennan coming in with the management team and turning that around so quickly, it's probably one of the stories of the year.

Kavanagh lamented the loss, adding that "You have to give them an incredible amount of credit. To put up 18 points against that DOnegal team in Croke Park, fair play to them".

Former Mayo footballer Cora Staunton added the Louth side "were immense for long periods of the game".

"They were immense right throughout the game. They had some huge performances, particularly Tommy Durnin in midfield.

Staunton continued: "If you look at what they've achieved in the last two years, back-to-back Leinster finalists, and an All-Ireland quarter final, they're certainly up an coming, and what Ger Brennan has done, as well as Mickey Harte, has brought Louth into the top teams in the country".