Meath to face Louth in Leinster quarter in Dublin
All roads will lead to Parnell Park in Dublin for Meath's Leinster SFC quarter-final tie against the Louth on Sunday 12th June despite the availability of Páirc Táilteann - a venue that would have been used if Carlow had won yesterday's provincial opener against the men from the Wee County.
So, it appears, a trip to Dublin is more acceptable to Louth and their supporters than the more convenient trip across the Boyne to Navan?
Maybe the Wee County players, officials and supporters are anticipating a second trip to the capital in early July and they want to use the game against Meath as kind of warm-up contest before they get ready to tackle Dublin at Croke Park?
I can understand why there would be a reluctance to 'hand' Meath what would be seen as home advantage, but playing it in Parnell Park is not something that will be convenient for their own supportesr, never mind the Meath angle.
And will the venue boost Louth's chances of success - it probably will, won't it!
Anyway, yesterday Louth got a scare from Carlow and won the game with a little bit of a struggle on a scoreline of 2-24 to 3-11 after leading by 0-11 to 0-6 at the interval.
LOUTH (v Carlow 14th May).
Scorers - R Burns 1-7 (penalty goal, five frees), J Califf 0-5 (three frees), J McEneaney 0-3, A Williams 1-0, D Byrne 0-2, D Maguire 0-2, C Grimes 0-2, J Stewart 0-1, G McSorley 0-1, R Holdcroft 0-1.
Team - C Lynch; K Toner, P Reilly, P Rath; D Maguire, D McMahon, A Williams; J Stewart, J Califf; D Byrne, J McEneaney, C McKeever; B Duffy, C Grimes, R Burns.
Substitutes - R Moore for Duffy (45 mins), G McSorley for McKeever (64 mins), R Holdcroft for McEneaney (70 mins).
NEXT UP
Parnell Park (Dublin) - Meath v Louth, Sunday 12th June.
LAT MEETING
Sunday 17th Jan 2016 O'Byrne Cup - Meath 0-11, Louth 0-10.
TEAMS
Meath - Paddy O’Rourke; Barry Tormay, Donal Keogan, Darragh Smyth; Alan Douglas, Mickey Burke, Cathal Finn (0-1); Harry Rooney, Conor Downey (0-1); Graham Reilly (0-1), Mickey Newman (0-5 three frees, one '45’), Cillian O’Sullivan (0-1); Sean Tobin (0-2 one free), Dalton McDonagh, Donal Lenihan. Subs - Shane McEntee for Lenihan 40 mins, Padraic Harnan for Tobin 56m, James O’Reilly for Downey 59m, Ruairi O Choileain for McDonagh 68m, Padraig Geraghty for O’Sullivan 70m, Paddy Kennelly for Newman 72m.
Louth - C Lynch; P rath, D Quigley, K Toner; D Maguire (0-1), D McMahon, K McLoughlin; T Durnin (0-2), J Stewart; D Byrne (0-2), C McKeever, C Bellew; A Reid (0-1), J McEneaney (0-3), B Flanagan. Subs - K Murphy for Toner, G McSorley for Bellew, R Holcroft for Flanagan, A Williams for Murphy, J Califf (0-1) for McKeever.
LOUTH FOCUS
Manager - Colin Kelly (second season).
2015
Leinster SFC - Westmeath 3-14, Louth 0-16.
All-Ireland SFC qualifiers first round - Louth 1-16 Leitrim 0-11.
All-Ireland SFC qualifiers second round - Tipperary 3-21 Louth 0-7.
2016
NFL DIV 4
Louth: Division 4 champions defeated Antrim in final
Played 8, Won 6, Drew 1, Lost 1.