Bring on the Dubs!

By Paul Byrne

Louth will contest their first Leinster Final since 2010 after seeing off offaly in a pulsating semi-final last Sunday.

The victory gives Mickey harte’s men a chance to banish the demons that still linger from that Leinster final against Meath in 2010 when victory was snatched at the death as Joe Sheridan illegally threw the ball into the net to give the Royals the most controversial of victories.

Standing in Louth’s way are Leinster kingpins Dublin who have won no less than 17 of the last 18 Leinster Finals with only that Meath win in 2010 disrupting their dominance of the provincial scene over the past 18 years.

having enjoyed a successful league campaign in division two, where they finished in third place behind Derry and Dublin, hopes were high that Louth could reach the promised land of a provincial final by beating offaly. A week earlier Louth had dramatically overcome Westmeath having come back from eight points down at half-time to eventually win by two points. Debutant Dylan McKeown, from the Dundalk Gaels, got Louth of to a flying start against the Faithful’s scoring two early points to justify Mickey harte’s selection.

Newtown Blues man Ciaran Downey looked right at home in the vast expanses of Croke Park and his five first half points helped Louth go in level at 0-9 to 1-6 at half-time with Peter Cunningham scoring a goal for offaly five minutes before the break.

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