NFL build UP: Team named Reaction

As usual, AOR keeps us on our toes with this selection.

 

4 Changes
From the team that started against Laois 
Out goes
Shane McCoy, Gary O'Hare, Brian Donnelly and Derek Crilly
in comes
Neil Gallagher, John O'Brien, Bevan Duffy and Eoin O'Connor




Selection Talking Points

No Surprise
The Dogs on the street knew Neil Gallagher was due a return...for the simple reason his kickouts are marginally better than McCoy's. When the man is fit the man plays that man is John O'Brien, no surprise he comes into the backline.

WOW! didn't see that coming!
Bevan Duffy starts in place of Brian Donnelly WOW! Donnelly must be injured for that big of a call by AOR because it is a big risk for such a big game.If we are going to win this game we have to be dominant in the middle sector. Safe to say I didn't think PK's midfield partner on the night would be a debutant. Bevan will bring strength and a more direct running option than Donnelly.

Tic-Tactic's
It looks like we are going with 5 forwards again.
Reido drops off the wing to play half back leaving Paddy Reilly to cover and JOBser picking up the influential Mark Poland. 
 
Dessie picks up Madine and Pop gets assigned to their dangerman O'Hare while Keith McLaughlin goes roaming with Maginn as mentioned earlier in the week.

The forwards line out the same as usual with Andy dropping out to the wing.
Leaving our little and large  combo of Maguire and O'Connor as a twin tiered threat inside. They'll have plenty of space in Esler to do some damage lets hope they do.

what we face
I will go through the Down team as soon as I hear it.



Thanks for reading, Match Preview Tomorrow

Like me on Facebook   or Follow me @LouthProud on Twitter

NFL Build Up: My team to face Down

This is the team I pick to go into battle Saturday night. 
Repeat, my Team.

 

Let me explain...

jeepers Keepers
Okay, as fun and all as the Dromintee love in was, it has to end.

Shane McCoy is solid goalkeeper and did nothing in particular but that’s the problem, he did nothing. The modern game requires the game to be restarted as quick as possible to give us the best advantage to win possesion. McCoy and his kick outs weren't up to scratch on this department. Even when a keeper does take his time you then expect them to be 100% they were far too slow and predictable.
Look, i'm not asking for Stephen Cluxton but we need at least some attempt at his dynamism!
Gally in for me.

Attacking

Surprisingly I've gone with the same front 8 or 7 rather, with a usual half forward reverting.

Although we haven't been as fluent as we'd like up front, we've still scored 27 points in 2 games. So I think we need to stick with the same set and hopefully they'll gain the confidence they need from that trust.

Besides, Down's defence will not be any tighter than what we've faced already. 

Hopefully during the break we've built up confidence in general and worked on ways to create and convert goal chances, badly needed.

-Derek Crilly is doubtful so in his place I'd bring in Keith McLaughlin to go roaming with their corner forward Conor Maginn with Paddy Reilly reverting to the sweeping role.-

Held in reserve
Brian White has been pencilled in for a return but to start him would be unfair on him.

Holding him in reserve will give us the impact we need off the bench andddd...in case you forgot, he can kick a free or two!
So we'll have a freetaker on the field at all times, especially when needed in the final minutes.

Either-way the Cooley man back fit is a great boost.


Thanks for reading I'll go through both teams selections tomorrow

Like me on Facebook   or Follow me @LouthProud on Twitter

NFL Build up:A look at Down

Down are sitting pretty with 3 points after 2 games. We, on the other hand only have 1. how do we get more? Easy! we take them off Down.


Down Traits 

Its the first of the relegated teams from last season we face and they still posses those Division 1 traits.

They finished strong. In both their games so far they gained their points with late surges....
First point gained was a comeback at home to Monaghan when they were 7 points down in the second half and they did what we couldn't beat Armagh, but it was only after a late goal and point in injury time.

This tell me that their division 1 conditioning and experience over the years is standing to them and Like all other games we've played this year it will go the 70th plus minute.

They also posses a strong bench to make an impact late in games as well as that they have a strong panel considering none of these players have featured for them so far...

Missing in Action
Dan Gordon, 
Ambrose Rogers, 
Brendan McVeigh,Peter Fitzpatrick,

Conor Laverty,
Kalum King,
and
Benny Coulter (who only played a few minutes as a late sub v Armagh.)

  
However, These lads are beatable

here's how...  

Curb their Danger Men

 

Mark Poland left is their play maker and instrumental to the Down forward line. Stop him and they stop functioning. Paddy Reilly at centre back for us is too green for him, thats not a slight on Paddy as majority of experienced defenders are too green for Poland!!
A fit JOB should do the trick and if not, then Gerry Hoey just goes on the tour of Newry with Poland for the evening.
Donal O'Hare right is their top scorer he is deadly accurate from free's and a real handful from open play. Pop is our number 1 inside man marker proved it so far this season already.

Area's to Exploit 

1. Muddled Midfield
Down have used 3 midfielders so far.
Kevin McKernan Ryan Mallon neither natural midfielders and recalled Gary McArdle who was subbed off in the opening game and hasn't featured since.
while 
Dan Gordon, Kalum King and Ambrose Rogers are still unavailable
and 
Peter Fitzpatrick since his return from Oz has made minimal impact. 

We need to dominate this area of weakness Down possess. 

They will more than likely start with McKernan and Mallon in the middle on Saturday night and what they lack in the air they make up for in mobility. They get through a serious amount of work and can pop up with a point or two.
Our extra defender (Crilly) will be earmarked with this duty of picking up their forward runs and allow PK and Donnelly the sole responsibility of winning clean possession, which they should do on height advantage alone.

This advantage will give us possession and then a foothold in the game.


2. Paceless Defence 





















I'm pretty certain any one of the 6 louth forwards isolated with Dan McCartan(above) will do him for pace. I think I would even do him for pace! We need to be aware of his match up at all times going forward. Dream scenario would be Derek Maguire. 

Down have never been known for their Defence and Saturday night will be no different by default they seem to have resorted back in to time to the selection of their halfback line and the overall look of their backs it seems a disjointed unit in general. Hopefully we can make hay in there.

Summary

So, there you have it, plenty of food for thought there.

Hopefully I've given the most pessimistic Louth fan reasons for hope and, when you are staring down the barrel of a relegation gun, Hope is a powerful thing!



Thanks for reading 

Like me on Facebook   or Follow me @LouthProud on Twitter

more to come tomorrow when i name my team!

NFL Build UP: Up Down Record

In recent times our record is not good against Down.
We've lost the last two league games against them, while we last beat them in 2007 at home. 

2007
Louth Won
2-14 to 1-13 in Drogheda

2008
Down Won
1-14 to 2-10 in Drogheda

2009 
Down won 
1-13 to 1-12 in Newry

Since our last meeting in 2009 they went on to play in an All-Ireland final in 2010 and remained in Division 1 ever since they were relegated last season.

Make no doubt about it Down will bring all that experience and pedigree come Saturday night

Thanks for reading 

Like me on Facebook   or Follow me @LouthProud on Twitter

NFL Build Up: Down Sched

So relieved the league is back and a day earlier too!

Saturday night in Pairc Esler Newry 7pm We face Down
 
As per Usual, I'll have loads of Stuff up on the blog throughout the week building up to the big game!

Like me on Facebook  
or
Follow me @LouthProud on Twitter

Vintage 07 PK v Down

Louth Players GAA education Part X 'Sigerson Final'

Bit of a Bummer having no Louth men involved in the Sigerson final but 3 Louth Under21's are involved with St Pats and they should get over the line in the Trench final!

here is the list of days events

Trench Cup Final
 St Pats Drumcondra VS Letterkenny IT 
4.15pm


Sigerson final 
UCC Vs UUJ
6.45pm live on TG4

thanks for reading

Updates here  By Liking me on Facebook  
or
Following me @LouthProud on Twitter

Louth Players GAA education Pt IX 'Sigerson WKD'

We started way back in January and we are finally here! The final examination if you will and Just like any exams, you cram a large amount in, in a short period of time!

The Sigerson cup is just like that! the finalists will have to play 2 games in two days over one weekend!

This adds to the intensity and furthers the impact a squad can make especially with the new black card rule! 

I know it's cliche to say the best players in Ireland will play in this competition over the weekend but it's actually true! Our lads will rub shoulders with the current GAA player of the year Michael Dara McAuley who's in Maynooth and possibly mark the likes of Jamie Clarke and Mattie Donnelly from UUJ!

So our lads have a great chance of improving their game, playing a high standard of football and enjoying themselves at the same time!


First up

NUI Maynooth play UCC @ 3.30pm

No Louth playing with the langers however, we now have 3 Louth men in the Maynooth Squad with Clogher full back Dermot Campbell joining up with their panel in recent weeks.
Darren McMahon from the Mochta's and Stephen Kilcoyne from SOM are the other lads invovled in this talented Maynooth set up. All are on the Louth U21 Squad. 


UCD play UUJ @ 5.30pm

Same senario as the other semi final, with only one team with Louth representatives involved here. 
UCD have Andrew English Mochta's and Paddy Reilly Brides in their squad and both men could feature in defence against my favourites to win the competition UUJ. Paddy Reilly is the only senior panellist involved both are on the Louth U21 set up.  


From a Louth perspective we'll be hoping for a Maynooth/UCD final! 

Best of luck lads!


What do you think? thanks for reading
keep up to date 


By Liking me on Facebook

or

Following me @LouthProud on Twitter

Trench Cup Summary

Dissapointment is not the word for the DKIT lads.

DKIT 1-7
St Pats 3-14



If it is any consolation for DKIT, I'd be very surprised if Pats don't go on to win it. 

The move for their first goal seen in Jerome Quinn's video shows what they were up against on the day.
The Class of Ciaran Kilkenny alone, finding time and space to deliver the ball to fellow Dublin Starlet Cormac Costello most inter county teams would struggle to contain! 

MOre video here 

Don't forget, the Pats have 3 louth men in their squad 
The final is tomorrow @ 4.15pm

and

Still to come is Plunketts man David McEntaggart for Liverpool Hope they play the other semi now at 2pm 

Alas they were also beaten


Letterkenny IT 1-14
Liverpool Hope 1-8


thanks for reading 

for updates

Like me on Facebook

or 

Follow me @LouthProud on Twitter

Trench Cup Preview

The wait is over, the big day weekend is nearly here.
Oisin McConville and his troops play the St Pats tomorrow at 12.30pm in the Dub, Belfast.

We know the DKIT side have numerous Louth players but the Pats have a few familiar faces also!

A couple of former Louth minor and current Louth U21's form the spine of their side.

Colm Giggins Stabannon Parnells
Darren Marks Cooley Kickhams
and 
James Stewart from the Gaels who impressed early on in the year for the seniors in the O'Byrne cup versus DCU.

All three are powerful players and will relish getting one over their local college!
It really adds some spice to this game.

It is a great achievement for DKIT in getting to this stage easily their best showing in a long number of years but they'll still want to advance to the final on the Saturday and they CAN do it. 

They have shown some serious mettle in getting over tight games with Marino and SRC along the way and that will give them alot of belief.
Up front the deadly O'Connells Duo of Robert Quigley and Cian Doyle will be expected to carry them through while Louth Senior Keith McLaughlin will possibly be given the unenviable task of picking up Ciaran Kilkenny! 



Fingers  crossed lads and best of Luck



Also 

That is not where Louth players participantion with this competition ends

Liverpool Hope University who play Letterkenny IT in the other semi final

have David McEntaggart in their side. 

A regular for Drogheda Club the Oliver Plunketts.

The Liverpool University qualify as British Champions so keep an eye out for them!!

thanks for reading updates live here tomorrow!



Like me on Facebook

or 

Follow me @LouthProud on Twitter



List of Louth players involved with DKIT.
12 in total which is great to see andf good for their Clubs and the County in general


Mark Neary Joes

Alan Quigley Joes

Timmy Smith Mattock

Conor Finnegan SOM

Mark Cunningham Mattock

Ciaran Murray DYI                     Louth trialist

Anthony Lynch Clogher

Thomas McCann pats

Keith McLaughlin SOM    Current Louth Panelist
Cian Doyle O'Connells   Current Louth Panelist

Robert Quigley O'Connells

Peter Lynch Stabannon

Winter League Next Week

Remember the date folks, the 23rd of February the day the Club season began.

Paddy Sheelan Cup

Group A

St Patricks v St Mochtas

Cooley Kickhams v Dundalk Young Irelands

Naomh Mairtin v Hunterstown Rovers



Group B

Newtown Blues v Clan na Gael

Kilkerley Emmets v St Josephs

Mattock Rangers v Glyde Rangers



Group C

Geraldines v St Brides

Sean Ó Mahonys v Na Piarsaigh

Dreadnots v Oliver Plunketts



Group D

O’Connells v Roche Emmets

Dundalk Gaels v Ardee St Marys

Ó Raghallaighs v St Fechins





Kevin Mullen Shield 2014 
 
Group A

John Mitchels v Sean Mc Dermott’s

Annaghminnon Rovers v St Kevin’s

Stabannon Parnells v Westerns

St Nicholas BYE



Group B

Naomh Malachí v Lannleire

Naomh Fionnbarra v Cuchulainn Gaels

Wolfe Tones v Glen Emmets

Dowdallshill BYE

louth hurling

An Lú team for Sundays Allianz Hurling League V Roscommon

James Connolly
Paddy Mc Cormack
John Carter
Andrew McCrave
Conor Kerrigan
Cian Hayes
Cathal Ryan
Jason Condon
Shane Callan
Andrew Mackin
Gary Rellis
Darren O' Hanrahan
David Kettle
Diarmuid Murphy
Gerard Smith

Happy Valentines to All Louth fans

get a room

forgive and forget

Louth Players GAA education Pt VIII 'Sigerson Cup Line UP'

Results from today  
DIT 1-6 UUJ 1-9, GMIT 0-9 NUIM 1-10, UCD 3-11 DCU 3-10, UCC 1-13 CIT 1-5  

So here is the line up for the Sigerson cup Weekend


NUI Maynooth(2)
UUJ
UCD(2)
UCC

Hosted by Queens this year 4 Louth men will definitely be involved.
 
Stephen Kilcoyne SOM and Darren McMahon with NUI Maynooth
and
Senior Paddy Reilly Brides and another Mochta's man in Andrew English with UCD

Kicks off friday next the 21st of February



Like me on Facebook

or 

Follow me @LouthProud on Twitter

Louth Players GAA education Pt VII 'Sigerson Cup Quarters'

The quarter finals of Sigerson cup start today...it is the final round before the actual Sigerson weekend.

Losing and not making the weekend at all..which is held in Queens this year, is like losing a semi final and not experiencing the build up and the spectacle of the final itself.

So this is the round that holds the highest tension.

8 teams play for those 4 spots and there will be 9 louth players involved and you probly know their names and team off by heart at this stage. 
The highest number of players at the weekend could be five and lowest number of players 2.

Here's the list of Fixtures and times Louth Players involved in brackets

Wednesday 12th Feb 3pm
GMIT v NUI Maynooth(2)
DIT(2) v UUJ
OFF till tomorrow!! 
DIT game now 2.30pm also 

Thursday 13th Feb 3.30pm
UCD(2) v DCU(3)
UCC v Cork IT 


Best of luck to the lads

Thanks for reading and tune here 
by either

Liking me on Facebook

or 

Following me @LouthProud on Twitter

Scoring Chart 2014

Colm Judge is on top of the pile after 2 rounds of the league
 
1 C Judge (0-7, five frees) 
2 D Byrne (0-6, four frees)
3 P Keenan (0-4)
4 D Maguire (0-3)
5 B Donnelly (0-2 one free)
6 E O’Connor (0-2)
7 Andy McDonnell (0-2)
8 Patrick Reilly (0-1)

27 points tally. No goals. No goal chances.

Top of the singles Chart

Judge tops the singles chart also...with 'banker' 
Right on the left wing, the blues man kicks a beauty for all those lucky enough to be on the bank got to see it sale over and leave one in it between the sides.

Laois Match reaction

Before the first two games good start, confidence were key to our survival

lets mark our block of two games out of four on the good start scale.

4/4 ehhh no.
3/4 still too high.
2/4 hmmm nope 50% is a pass and if this was an exam we've failed.
1/4 seems about right.
0/4 not that bad we did make a start at least.

1/4 yep that’s about right...and would you believe, that is same amount of points we've accumulated out of the four available.

We are now staring down the barrel of a relegation gun.

and

It is all of our own doing, we have no body else to blame but, ourselves.

Half flying Flag

Tactic's 
Again yesterday we didn't get them right. I tweeted that both sides are not getting the best of each other! Management are not getting it spot on and Players are half buying into it.
(It being the tactics and gameplan)


Example of this miscommunication is seen in the first half, with the wind on our backs you keep it tight and make it as difficult as possible for the opposition to score management sets us up defensively but its the players who let Laois in for 2 goals.

Another example, in the Second half, chasing a lead we still play with an extra defender andddd they are a man down! 
I understand that we might want to build from the back play a running game that worked to a certain extent but you also need the options inside to vary the attacks and keep them guessing we had Derek maguire in there on his own, the player who loves an early quick delivery it just didn't make sense and in the end we were really easy to defend against and, there was no chance of us ever creating a goal chance thats two games on the trot now.




Free Taker 
After an amazing rally, we patiently took our time in possession and worked scores. Methodically we had them down to 1 point with 10 to go. At this point the game was in the melting pot and we were building up the pressure and turning up the heat all we need was an ice cold free taker on the pitch to see us through. Like Ronan O'Gara would do for Ireland,come in last 10 and see the team over the line. Responsibility was left at the hands of PK which was completely wrong by management. Basically they hung him out to dry. Made him the scapegoat. 
How?
When AOR took off our free taker on the day Declan Byrne, we played the last 16 mins of the game with no freetaker on the left hand side.
Made us even easier to defend and the Laois defence knew to foul us on that side of the pitch.

To go back to rugby again, when the forward pack works there ass off to win a penalthy and the out half misses the 3 points. It is a blow to the team but it is demoralising for the hardworking forwards. Thats what happened us yesterday. the opposite happened Laois they got a great boost from the misses and when they scored theirs the otherend they were bolstered by it. 

Sure enough, we are really working hard for scores this season without Lenno, White and Ciaran Byrne but we knew this and in fairness Judge, Maguire and Byrne have stepped up but management can make it easier on us by having a freetaker there to finish!

Personal touch 
So the big question is, if Management knew that Decie Byrne was our freetaker on the day already 3 points to his name, taken off?

Second game in a row now too. To me and to everyone else watching it's a personal issue between manager and player because his performances so far have been consistent, he's even taken on the role of freetaker too with ease and he is certainly able to last the full 70 minutes, fitness is not an issue with decie!

So Aidan O'Rourke as manager has to cut out the BS and do whatever it takes to get a win, putting his issues aside.

Likewise with Darren Clarke, he may not fit into AOR's system of hard working forwards but yesterday, we had the extra man we could have allowed for Darren to stay inside and when we needed someone to kick a free most who better than the counties all time top scorer!!!
and, dare I say it, a lad who isn't even on the panel, who can also strike a nice free and really should be still involved but isn't by current managements choice is, Jim McEneaney!!! 


Luckily now, we have a break till the Down game. The lads and management have time to put the differences aside. 
Be honest with each other and clear the lines of communication.

Be objective. focus only on getting Louth football winning again because make no doubts about it, we are now in the middle of relegation dogfight.

With 5 games to go. we can do this. 
We got ourselves in this mess and We'll get ourselves out of it.


Thanks for reading 

now

Like me on Facebook

or

Follow @LouthProud on Twitter

NFL BUild Up: Laois Preview

''get back on the horse that threw you''  

Some auld buck from Reaghstown (i think?)

All week the Louth lads and management, fans even will have been mulling the Armagh game over and over in their heads. Luckily for the players they won't have to wait long to get it out of their system. a week.

Same team. Same time. Same pitch. Same day.
Only difference is the opposition



We played really well for 50ish minutes last week and the players know this aswell.

We tackled superbly allover the pitch with discipline and the vigour of some of the top sides in Ireland. We can do this again but can we do it for the full 70 plus injury time?

AOR has challenged the same group of lads to do so. 
Could be a masterstroke on his part.

Opposition



We played Laois twice last season but they've changed alot
new manager 
new style 
and 
new players


Conor Meredith is one to watch he was there last season but only featured after we knocked them out of leinster. An ex aussie rules player he is a serious forward and will pose problems at full forward.

Worryingly, they have a nicer balance about them up front this year regardless of their more attacking approach under O'Flaharha they have their forwards in the right place.

Also John O'loughlin is seen as an all out midfielder this year. His driving runs caused us all sorts of problems last year but expect him to be well marshaled. Stop him and we go along way in stopping Laois.

Verdict


Check out the footage of their game last week against Donegal and it is plain to see when you run at them they can't cope. Donegal we are not but, we can run the ball well.

The midlanders come into this game after a large defeat to the 2012 all Ireland champions so they will be wounded and they will go into this game with little or no pressure. That alone allows them not to be taken for granted.

Still, I think we will win and the players themselves have to. 

Interesting facts
We have only 5 starters from last years drawn league game in Portlaoise, they'll have Seven.

Laois had zero Sigerson cup players playing this week. zero. We had Seven.
Sign of the times.

Things to Expect
-Their Goalie Brody to take a long range free.
-Everyone giving out no matter what subs AOR makes.
-Relegation 4 pointer award Presentation after the game.
-Laois in an O'Neills kit after years of being with Azzuri.

NFL Build UP: selection talking Points

Same old Same old from AOR 

Okay, not many talking points but enough to have a  Discussion  on what we are going to line up. 

AOR naming the same team shows his trust in his players...he's backed the same group to do what they did last week and challenged them to finish it out.

John O'Brien is highly highly doubtful to start so it will be either his clubmate Keith McLaughlin that comes in like he did last week or Conor Rafferty could come in, playing the role of seventh defender.

Laois Team

 

Marking assignments

Pop is our number one fire fighter he puts the fire out in our defence and he'll pick up Ross Munnelly from the start. Their talisman

Shev will pick up Finn who is a midfielder by trade. Aerially Shev will be well capable and he can put the newcomer on back foot going forward

Reido gets the pleasure displeasure of picking up Billy sheehan. The kerryman is a windup merchant and Reido has the temperament not to get involved.

DIT man O'Hare will pick up David Conway, He's been a real winner under the O'Flaharta reign.

Dessie picks up ex AFL recruit Conor Meredith who if he gets going could be dangerous.

nice to see Paddy o' Reilly given the backing to start again he'll pick up his former UCD alumni Donal Kingston a big powerful player but lacks mobility. That's where Reilly will see to exploit him.

Match Preview up tomorrow

Thanks for reading 

now

Like me on Facebook

or

Follow @LouthProud on Twitter