Louth/Galway Report

Forget the DROGHEDA INDO AND DUNDALK DEMOCRAT ,

THIS IS WELL WORTH THE READ TO GIVE YOU THE BEST COVERAGE AND DETAIL FROM THE WEEKENDS GAME!!



Leaving the quite impressive Pearse Stadium on Sunday, to the sound of the Saw Doctors, in high spirits was worthy of the full tank of petrol.  

There is something special about heading whest, it makes you feel giddy and the wild Irish rogue comes out in ya, And you could sense that from our lads from the off. They were really up for it!

Up for the match!

The game began with Darren Clarke kicking a cracker in the left corner....you knew it was sailing over as you could hear his roar of approval the other end of the field where I was, even before it went over the bar! It also highlighted the lack of Louth fans that travelled.

You thought then, lovely.

We’ve settled early into this game here now.

And we showed we were up for it!

We weathered a galway storm, defended really well and aggressively .Gerry Hoey attacked everything that came his way. But a lazy foul by Donnelly gave the home side an opportunity to level via a Michael Martin free.

Gerry Hoey again, broke up a Galway attack that ended up with Ronan Carroll putting us back in the lead, Ronan is very accurate his shots to scores percentage is very high.

Blitzkrieg

The defensive strain was now starting to show and it began with a stroke of fortune, Paul Conroy was forced to shoot out the wing and it came off the post and straight in the arms of Danny Cummins and the Sligo IT man dispatched excellently to the net. Cummins again was then fortunate to take advantage of sun in Pop’s eyes to convert another point.

Louth feeling sorry for themselves were all over the place at the back and Nicky Joyce then got in on the act roaming out the field and scoring after Dessie got turned over. Martin tapped over another after centre back Duane was left to charge up the field.

Galway really seemed to be finding their groove with direct ball into the inside forwards and patiently worked for midfielder Flynn to score.

Spirit

At this stage Galway looked to have another gear but Louth showed great spirit to fight back. The catalyst for this was a number of switch’s Jamie Carr went in to mark Nicky Joyce a role that suited him better and Andy McDonnell wasted in at full forward came out to his more natural forty yards position.

With Andy picking up breaks and giving us that bit  more in that sector he picked up breaks and gave us the link we needed aswell as an outlet for our defenders.

Also we played ball after ball into the left corner to great effect there was loads of space to run into and alot our scores were manufactured in there.
A clumsy foul on Paddy Keenan by his marker Flynn saw Darren Clarke convert a well taken free off the ground (Oh how we could have done with that later) He scored another from play.

Paddy drove in that area and clipped over with his left foot on the run as he usually does. Then move of the game saw great work by Reido, who played the ball to Andy who worked it to Derek Crilly who curled over with his right foot leaving two in it.

Tactic’s

We were really dominating the middle sector now Faherty the Galway goalkeeper was obviously told to keep the ball away from PK and that ploy worked right to our favour as Donnelly was showing impressive hands for the second week running. However it was a break from him collected by Reido and quick hand pass set Mark Brennan off into space and he steadied himself to leave one in it.

It was going to take something special to crack the domination we enjoyed. Gareth Bradshaw’s lung’s was that something special. Adrian Reid left him for a split second after a hop ball and that’s all he needed to show off his power in driving up the pitch and show great composure to finish, leaving two in it before the half time whistle.

The second half began the way it was going to end with indecisiveness and some guilt edge opportunities wasted. The pick of the bunch was Paddy Keenan who blazed wide when it seemed easier to score a goal or point. Andy mcDonnell eventually got us of the mark in the second half and was highly impressive all afternoon he has a sharpness and quickness of thought suited to this level.

Simmering

Louth we’re coming to the boil as Jamie Oliver would say.
You could sense the Temperature rising especially when Liam Shevlin and Gary Sice got booked and Donnelly was throwing his weight about,

it looked like Louth were beginning to believe.

Adrian Reid confirmed this with a trademark solo run and some might say untrademark finish to match, to draw the game.

The heat was taken out of them slightly with Paul Conroy breaking up the field to score with venom, a dipping shot just over the crossbar and then the water was tossed out of the pan completely in the substitution of Darren Clarke and Adrian Reid.

A bizarre decision and cost us dearly come the end.

Replacement Eoin O’Connor took the ball off Derek Crilly and kicked his first score of his Louth career from a tight angle but I don’t mean to be over critical on the lad when a wiser head could have picked out JP who was in front of a gapping and nearly certain goal.

Ronan Carroll was threatening on the edge of the square; he has great potential there, Strength and power with a great burst of pace. The position suits him as well he can be a nuisance plus he really just needs that one chance to convert a goal.

 

Partnership

We were bossing the midfield completely at this stage, Paddy on the ground and Donnelly in the air.

The youthful Galway midfield were taught a lesson and maybe purposely by their Manager as a part of their development. One real asset they posses, is Bradshaw, who has the ability to turn defence in attack in an instant powered up the field again to put Galway back in the lead.

 

Donnelly missed a long range free.

Jim Mac got on the scoring act too when finally introduced for Mark Brennan after being brought on earlier as a blood sub. Aaron Hoey was brought on soon after

It was Jim who collided with a Galway midfielder but the referee who was fussy on the day deemed it a free.
JP took the free didn’t connect with it as he would have liked, but Eoin O’Connor had the sense of mind to keep the ball in play punching it across the goal mouth to the opposite corner and Jim then took a sneaky look at where the posts were, before he picked up the ball and with the posts behind him he turned and gave his marker no chance and levelled the score with 3 minutes to play plus injury time.

Donnelly missed a 45

The game was there for the taking but then the daddy of all the golden opportunities came our way. A long ball in broke to Andy who struck it well enough off the ground certain to go in the bottom left corner only for Aaron Hoey’s derrière to block it!
It broke out to JP but with so little to aim at he pulled it and the impressive Faherty palmed it wide for a 45.

Donnelly missed another 45

This would now be Brian Donnelly’s third attempt to score one, not one was worked short in the belief we would kick one one of them and he missed all of them.

just.

on every occasion.


Why did we take off our inform free taker in such a tight game!?

Perspective

Louth weren’t good to enough to win it and Galway weren’t bad enough to lose it either. In the end it was a point lost rather than point gained.
While you couldn’t feel down about it, especially after the good performance the lads put in and to see a fit and healthy looking Michael Meehan outside the ground not togged out for Galway due to a debilitating ankle injury puts a lot of things into perspective.

Best man on View: Brian Donnelly his hands were awesome and really growing in confidence, although he did miss crucial free’s he can’t be faulted as he still had the cojone’s to step to take all three.


Best Galway man on view: Although well confined, Gareth Bradshaw showed us flashes his powerful pair of lungs.

Later/Tomorrow: Talking Points and there is alot to talk about!!