THEY WERE doing a roaring trade in the hats, scarves and headbands outside Parnell Park, although the motivation for purchase wasn’t so much an added show of county pride, as it was the need for added protection from the pouring rain. It definitely wasn’t pretty out here, and that includes the football.
For the 5,000-or-so supporters who did show up, at least it was relatively exciting until the end. Louth built just enough of an advantage to hold out, but Carlow’s late rally may well have diverted them away from the dreaded qualifier avenue and into the quarter-final meeting with Laois – if only it hadn’t been too little too late.
“That’s probably the worst day I’ve seen in a long, long time for championship football,” declared Louth manager Eamonn McEneaney. “Especially the underfoot conditions.
“Parnell Park is a great pitch, 99 per cent of the year. But today it was very, very slippery. You’d have to be out on the field to realise how difficult it was.
“If it was a lovely day for football and all the rest you’d expect good quality, but that was just a war of attrition. It got considerably worse near the end, and anyone going for the ball was sliding 10 or 15 yards, and that can be dangerous.
“So it was just about getting the result here today, going through to the next round against Laois. We’re under no illusions. We’ll have to step up and improve from this.”
McEneaney admitted it was a game Louth should have finished off a lot earlier: “We had seven shots in the first half, and only scored two of them. I do think we created enough chances to win the game comfortably, and we just didn’t take them. When they got the goal in the end we were up the other side of the pitch, left the back open.
“That’s inexperience, but you can’t afford to be doing that. But we’d 12 players under 24 out there, and I’d have to be happy with the way they stuck in.”
For Luke Dempsey, a wise head of football serving his trade in Carlow for the first year, there was the calm acceptance that the better team had indeed won – but that he could still draw on the positives.
“Louth were the bigger physical team, and better able to take their scores,” he started. “I think we found the conditions more difficult.
“We did fight bravely, and as it turned out if we didn’t concede that early goal we could have won, but I can’t say, no, that we should have won. But we battled brilliantly and played to the level that I hoped they would, because they’ve come from such a low base.”
Dempsey finds himself back in familiar territory now, waiting for the qualifiers to begin the first weekend in July: “We only have 26 on the panel, and that’s without dropping anyone, so I think it’s a measure of their dedication to see how much they’ve come on since January and February.
“But it has to be continued now, no matter who we get in the qualifiers. We have to try to continue the profile, in Carlow. We have to look forward already.
“We’ll give them a week off now, but we have to take heart. I’ve taken heart out of that performance, but it’s about driving on now.”
