Best of.......................

2012


As always on the blog I tend to look positively at the overall Louth GAA picture and a 'best of' round up of 2012 is no different.

Like majority of Louth seasons the first half is crammed with inter county games O'Byrne Cup, league and early naive optimism takes place and then before you know it the hard ground see's the Club season takes over.

This year was no exception.......

We stayed in Division 2, a massive achievement by all standards and the manner in which we beat Meath had us all glowing but Championship is a different animal and Dublin once again showed us how far off that elite level we are. 

Likewise with our under 21's a promising bunch won 3 Leinster games in a row defeating Kilkenny, Longford and Offaly before a Ultra talented Dublin side put them to the sword.

Our Minors also got a win before the lily whites beat them away.

A big Shout out to our Hurlers and Ladies who also reached finals in their respective grades alas to again be defeated,

but.

you get the feeling. they are just. 

on the verge of winning that Nicky Rackard cup and prestigious All-Ireland Junior title sooner rather than later.

so all in all we're going in the right direction.....

and we're not a bad wee county at all......

But, our season is over before it begins May/June.....and I know we all have our clubs to go back to and club games to tide us over. 

Kudos to our Club Champs
Pats, O'Connells and Glen Emmetts,
Pearse Og hurlers and Stabannon ladies  


But,
something has to give for 2013 and it did, We needed a boost of optimism, a change to take us into the new year.

And we got it. 

Peter Fitzpatrick stood down and Aidan O'Rourke takes charge, new ladies Manager Ciaran Marks has been introduced and even New jerseys with a new Sponsor will hopefully allow us and take us on that bit further in 2013.

here's hoping!!!


NOW without Further ado

I'm going to do my best Gary Lineker/Sue Barker Impression and present to you....

my BEST OF 2012 Awards


The Spanish Soccer team Best Team Performance: Meath Game

The annihilation of the self destructing Meath team was the highlight of the year bar none.

In Navan, we relegated the Royals, and gave one of the best Louth performances ever....from the word go we played a complete Spanish Tic-Tac football putting together sublime moves and running the royals ragged and frustrating them to 13 men. 

Shame that game in April was the peak of our season. 

Noticeable mentions:
Galway and Derry away draws.

 


The Katie Taylor Best Individual Performance: Ray Finnegan

For those of us that travelled down to Mullingar for the qualifier game where the lads were defeated by Westmeath. 

You treated to an outstanding performance by Ray Finnegan.

Missing several key players to injury and already down to 14 men and then Due to a outrageous refereeing Decision we were reduced to 13 men.

but, this did not deter Ray 

As the game opened up, he basically put the Louth team on his back and played with as much heart as katie Taylor driving the Louth team on to a near famous victory.
Noticeable mentions: 
Derek maguire 2-2 versus Meath AND Darren Clarke's 1-7 versus Derry





The Colm Corrigan Best Find of 2012: Jim McEneaney 

Colm famously made this Statement during his commentary of the Derry away game and he was right Jim slotted in like a veteran, when in truth he was just a Rookie

Noticeable mentions: 
Danny O'C and Eoin O'C




The @clarkie2015 Best Hashtag of 2012: #inpopwetrust

Noticeable mentions:  

#Mckeeversbelievers #LouthandProud

The All-Ireland Champions Donegal, Best Team of 2012: St Patricks

Who Else?

They came, They saw, They Conquered.

Back to back Championship and then the League double

Noticeable mentions: 
O'Connells, Glen Emmetts, Pearse Og and Stabannon Ladies




The Lance Armstrong Best Enemy of 2012: Referee Derek Fahy

I openly make a point about not blaming or pointing the finger at referee's.

But we would have beaten Westmeath again that day if it wasn't for him.

Darren Clarke, not a dirty player, was Sent off for pulling a player off the ground after he dived!

Rory O'Carroll click the link didn't even get a yellow for that incident which was worse!

yes, i'm still angry about it!!! 

Noticeable mentions: 
Dublin U21's and Senior's and Antrim Ladies 



The Jimmy McGuinness Best Manager of 2012: Wayne McKeever

The man who instilled belief in the fragile Castlebellingham minds and finally got them over the line to win the Intermediate championship.

He also brought them to 3 other finals this season.

Sheelan Cup, Cardinal O'Donnell and Leinster Club

Thats some going in his first full season.

Noticeable mentions: 
Fergal Reel and Ciaran Marks 




The Ryder Cup Best Shock of 2012: Glen Emmets 

The Junior championship is a minefield at the best of times but a lot of punters lost a lot of money on the Oliver Plunketts exit at the Semi final stage.

The Division 1 league team were favourites to walk the championship with Ease....

The Tullyallen men had other idea's dumping them out after being down early on in the game.

This was no flash in the pan for the Emmetts either as they went on to win the Christy Bellew Cup outright.

Noticeable mentions: 
Glyde/Mattock Championship, Clogher's Semi final win over the Blues and Plunketts Minors

THANKS A MILLION 

for reading and your support over the past year, Appreciate it.

 

Hopefully See you all in the New Year here

And

 

Hopefully it will be a Louth and Proud one!!! 

 

Louth and Proud Christmas Message

Happy Christmas

 

to all my followers, readers and

 

Louth GAA fans all over the world!!!

If you are bored or looking for something to give you a GAA kick over the holidays scroll down through the Archive on the right hand side and hopefully it will sort you out!

Thanks L&P

 

 

 

 

 

We are the Physiotherapists chosen for the Louth GAA Senior Football and Hurling teams 2012 and 2013. To show our support and Loyalty to our county, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss our business and physiotherapy skills that we can provide for your club.

At Louth Physio Clinic, we provide the highest of Standards

-Four Full time Chartered Physiotherapists, both male and Female.
-Experts in injury diagnosis, rehabilitation and return to play time frames.
-Game pre-match, on-field and post match physiotherapy services.
-Pre season player screenings.
-Immediate access to MRI and specialist orthopaedic consultants.
-Open late evenings and weekends.
-Free phone advice.
-Full time reception Staff.
-Flat rate of €35 per physiotherapy session.

We offer a fair price due to the current economic climate to make it easy and affordable for your players recovery at the highest of Standards.

If you would like to discuss this further or set up a meeting

contact Robbie at 042 9394040
or www.louthphysio.ie
and @louthPhysio

located at
45 Barrack St, Dundalk & Upper Mell, Drogheda

Louth Jersey 2013 Home and Away

After a lot of Speculation, the much awaited Official Louth Jersey was actually revealed and, like buses, two came at the one time!!

The jerseys, Home and Away were launched on the back of the Morgan Sponsorship deal with the county last night.

  Home

My thoughts 

First impressions are good, the thing I was most worried about, the Morgan logo itself is not as much as an eyesore that I thought it would be.

So that was a relief.

The overall Jersey itself lacks fuss, very much a plain red t-shirt with 2 swoosh's across the torso and right sleeve. 

The introduction of gold, might antagonise the traditionalists as it's not one of our primary colours, but O'Neills used their artistic license to add it in. 
The sourcing of it must come from the crest colour, I think it works well and without it the Jersey would be very miserable looking

The fact that there is no Collar and further again no fuss around the collar, just plain red, will give the players a very slick streamlined look. 


Which will hopefully make the players on top of their intense training regime, look Leaner and Meaner than ever.

Could this be a sign of things to come?

Stripped back approach, no fuss with some gold thrown in!?

here's hoping.

Away

My thoughts

White jersies are usually nice....

White Louth Jersey is no exception! 

So basically you can't go wrong really!

If the Red home Jersey is for the players this is definitely one for the supporters.

Again the Gold works, This time adds fuss to the collar and adds nice detail to the Sleeve and the Chest.

When will we get to see the team wear this? Certainly Armagh in the League? 
Galway, Westmeath also maybe?


Okay I'm looking for any excuse really!! 


The Jerseys, as far as I know will not be in the Shops till February at the earliest.
Due to the County Board Securing the Sponsorship so late and O'Neills design and  manufacturing limitations. 
They could not get the Jersey's ready in time for the Christmas Market. unfortunate but I still think they will be a successful seller.
If I do or you do Spot it in any retailers let me know and we can let Supporters know as soon as possible
Should be retailing at €50 for Adults and €38 for Juveniles

 
Thanks for Reading 

Possible Louth Jersey 2013 Sneak Peek 2.0.

Over the last number of weeks, The interest in the Louth Jersey has been off the charts!

So I decided to give the jersey one more go, another chance to show you what to expect!



This jersey design itself, is the result of all the Rumours spoken about on my twitter recently.

So, a Brief for the jersey Design was Drawn up (in my head) 


No Collars-                             Check! 
New O'Neills Jersey Design -  Check!
Gold details-                          Check!



and then Digitally created and Seen Below!

So what do you think? 
Would you wear it? buy it even?
Did O'Neills copy the blog's colour Scheme?

Answers on a Postcard or here @LouthProud


The Actual Jersey is set to be unveiled tonight at the Morgan Fuels Sponsorship launch. 

Anyone know the venue or time?
(Nothing like a top secret new sponsorship publicity launch!!)

Just found out, function will be at the Fane Bar, Dundalk. Get yourselves down there and tweet me the Pic.

I reckon the LouthandProud Design won't be a million miles away from the real thing!

And, I for one is Really looking forward to it.


Thanks for Reading 
L&P

Louth ladies League Fixtures

New Louth Ladies Manager Ciaran Marks and his management will look to the League to prepare his team for Championship.

When the draw was made last week, He couldn't have asked for a better way to do so than have 5 games out of the 6 League games at home.

The solitary away game to Carlow also comes after a bye week so they will have even more time to prepare.

Unless they have a home away system I don't know about, i find it baffling that a  team has only 1 away game! but We'll not complain! 

We'll look forward instead. Hopefully to a Final in May!

It will be still difficult however, as Louth will be looking to gain revenge on Antrim and Limerick both teams beat them in recent all Ireland junior finals.

Best of Luck Ladies

Quick Question: Where do the Ladies play their home games?
answers on a postcard or @LouthProud
 

National Football League Division 4
Round 1	3rd Feb
Carlow (H)	Limerick
Derry   (H)	Offaly
Louth   (H)	Roscommon
Antrim	Bye
Round 2	10th Feb
Limerick (H)	Derry
Offaly (H)	Roscommon
Antrim (H)	Carlow
Louth	Bye
Rd 3	17th Feb
Antrim (H)	Offaly
Carlow (H)	Louth
Roscommon (H)	Limerick
Derry	Bye
Rd 4	3rd March
Louth (H)	Antrim
Carlow (H)	Offaly
Roscommon   (H)	Derry
Limerick	Bye
Rd 5	24th March
Louth (H)	Limerick
Antrim   (H)	Derry
Roscommon   (H)	Carlow
Offaly	Bye
Rd 6	31st March
Antrim (H)	Limerick
Carlow   (H)	Derry
Louth (H)	Offaly
Roscommon	Bye
Rd 7	6th April
Limerick (H)	Offaly
Rd 7	7th April
Antrim (H)	Roscommon
Louth   (H)	Derry
Carlow	Bye
Playoff’s/Relegations	13th/14th April
Semi Final	21st April
Final	4th/5th May

NewsRound

Minor League Final

Love/Hate ended last night and so the Louth GAA season.

(Spoiler alert) 
The final act of the season was just as gruesome as Darren's death.

The O'Connells, St Joesphs and Stabannon Parnells ended the season on a high and took care of the Clans in the Minor League Division 1 final.

Which was seen as a Grudge match. As the unsuccessful Minor Championship Semi final appeals by the Clans against them was a huge motivation for the combination side and I'm sure Revenge was sweet.

Final Score 3-11 to 1-9



Paidí O'Sé

The GAA world mourns the loss of one of it's most charismatic and favourite son's. 


I know many Louth Club teams have had the honour of playing in his tournament and enjoying his company over that special weekend.
 

Paidí's relationship with the wee county during his Kerry years as Player and Manager was few and far between.

Maybe one League game in Ardee in 2002 (seen below) in which Kerry won comfortably.

 
Sportsfile

However, in his first game in charge of Westmeath he faced us, in the first round of the O'Byrne cup.

We lost that day after ET as you can tell from Mark Stansfield's face. (pic below)
 
 
Sportsfile


But I think 18,000 turned out that day yes, 18 thousand on the 4th of january. 
yes, the 4th of January!!  

Such was his appeal and the buzz of his appointment, They went on to win their one and only Leinster title later on that season, Amazingly.

To see first hand his energy on the sideline that day will stick me forever. He had a presence and instant respect to each and everyone of those 18 thousand pair of eye's.


A special character and It's hard to believe he's gone.


RIP Paidí

We are the Physiotherapists chosen for the Louth GAA Senior Football and Hurling teams 2012 and 2013. To show our support and Loyalty to our county, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss our business and physiotherapy skills that we can provide for your club.

At Louth Physio Clinic, we provide the highest of Standards

-Four Full time Chartered Physiotherapists, both male and Female.
-Experts in injury diagnosis, rehabilitation and return to play time frames.
-Game pre-match, on-field and post match physiotherapy services.
-Pre season player screenings.
-Immediate access to MRI and specialist orthopaedic consultants.
-Open late evenings and weekends.
-Free phone advice.
-Full time reception Staff.
-Flat rate of €35 per physiotherapy session.

We offer a fair price due to the current economic climate to make it easy and affordable for your players recovery at the highest of Standards.

If you would like to discuss this further or set up a meeting  

contact Robbie at 042 9394040
or www.louthphysio.ie  
and @louthPhysio 

located at 
45 Barrack St, Dundalk & Upper Mell, Drogheda

Louth College's All Stars 2012

A great initiative by DKIT running these awards through the Argus and Drogheda independent.

Furthermore, the online votes accounted for 50% of the total meaning you couldn't just vote your way on to the team. I Really like that.
 


Goalkeeper
Conor Barton- St Joesph's CBS- Newtown Blues

Full backs
Stephen Bellew- Colaiste Rís- DYI
Ryan Trainor - Marist College - Geraldines
My first Guess
Michael Smith- Ardee Community School- Syddan WRONG
Conor Brangan - St Marys DS-Curraha Confirmed

Half Backs
Ben Donnelly- St Marys DC- Oliver Plunketts

Ian Carr - O'Fiaich College- Clan Na Gael

Emmet Duffy- Ardee Community School- Sean McDermotts CORRECT

Midfield

Mystery Men 
I'll Guess 
Kevin Traynor -Ardee Community School - Syddan
and 
Conor Early - St Marys DS- Oliver Plunketts
two Finalists midfielders Correct

Half Forwards
Conall McEneaney- Colaiste Ris- Kilkerley Emmets
Gideon Lugoye - St Marys DS- Wolfe Tones
Dean Mathews- Scoil Ui Mhuiri- St Joesphs

Full Forwards
Ryan Burns - Ardee Community School - Hunterstown Rovers
Paddy Byrne - Marist College - Sean O'Mahony's
Dean Maguire - Marist College -DYI


Winners of the Lennon Cup for the First time Ardee Community School have 3 players, While losing Finalists St Mary's DC Drogheda have 4!! Shield Winners The Marist also have 3 players.

Overall a nice mixture and Spread of Schools and Clubs, Seemingly the Full forward line picked itself....

Clearly, all players nominated are talented especially the one's lucky enough to get selected.
Hopefully they will have a bright future, so watch this Space......

#remeberthename


Do you agree with the Selections?
Are my Guesses Correct? 3 out of 4 were !
Anyone who should have gotten on the Team that didn't or is there someone there who shouldn't?

We are the Physiotherapists chosen for the Louth GAA Senior Football and Hurling teams 2012 and 2013. To show our support and Loyalty to our county, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss our business and physiotherapy skills that we can provide for your club.

At Louth Physio Clinic, we provide the highest of Standards

-Four Full time Chartered Physiotherapists, both male and Female.
-Experts in injury diagnosis, rehabilitation and return to play time frames.
-Game pre-match, on-field and post match physiotherapy services.
-Pre season player screenings.
-Immediate access to MRI and specialist orthopaedic consultants.
-Open late evenings and weekends.
-Free phone advice.
-Full time reception Staff.
-Flat rate of €35 per physiotherapy session.

We offer a fair price due to the current economic climate to make it easy and affordable for your players recovery at the highest of Standards.

If you would like to discuss this further or set up a meeting  

contact Robbie at 042 9394040
or www.louthphysio.ie  
and @louthPhysio 

located at 
45 Barrack St, Dundalk & Upper Mell, Drogheda

Louth Physiotherapy Clinic

Are you a Player, Manger, Selector, Committee Member........

Looking For a Physio? 

To keep you injury free, your players healthy and the coffers low for the Season?

Then Look no Further than the

We are the Physiotherapists chosen for the Louth GAA Senior Football and Hurling teams 2012 and 2013. To show our support and Loyalty to our county, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss our business and physiotherapy skills that we can provide for your club.

At Louth Physio Clinic, we provide the highest of Standards

-Four Full time Chartered Physiotherapists, both male and Female.
-Experts in injury diagnosis, rehabilitation and return to play time frames.
-Game pre-match, on-field and post match physiotherapy services.
-Pre season player screenings.
-Immediate access to MRI and specialist orthopaedic consultants.
-Open late evenings and weekends.
-Free phone advice.
-Full time reception Staff.
-Flat rate of €35 per physiotherapy session.

We offer a fair price due to the current economic climate to make it easy and affordable for your players recovery at the highest of Standards.

If you would like to discuss this further or set up a meeting  

contact Robbie at 042 9394040
or www.louthphysio.ie  
and @louthPhysio 

located at 
45 Barrack St, Dundalk & Upper Mell, Drogheda

Louth Jersey 2013 Sneak Peek???

On Louth and Proud I try to bring you, the Louth fans, what you want.....So i decided to give you a Sneak Peek of the highly anticipated Louth Jersey.

what It might Look like.



and without further ado...........


Here's what the Louth Jersey for 2013 could look like next season!!

Personally, I'm surprised how well the Morgan Fuels logo works! 
The red with the blue and Orange doesn't clash all that much.


The actual jersey, I reckon we will and should get rid of the collars, What do you think?


If you have any design's send them to me  and I'll post them up!



The Morgan Fuels Sponsorship launch is the 20th of Dec, I'm sure they will have a Sample ready by then for us all to see. until then Enjoy.