Louth make four changes for Meath clash

Louth have made four changes to their side for Sunday’s final Allianz Football League Division Two clash with neighbours Meath in Drogheda.

Mick Fanning, Darren O’Hanlon, Bevan Duffy and Kevin Rogers all come into the side for the clash with the Royal County with Dessie Finnegan, Gary O’Hare, Stephen Campbell and Eoin O’Connor missing out after starting the defeat to Donegal last weekend.

Shane Lennon will also start again having been a late addition to the side last weekend in Ballyshannon.

Aidan O’Rourke’s side have little but pride to play for having already been relegated to Division Three next season after taking just two points from draws with Armagh and Galway to date in the campaign.

A win over old rivals Meath would no doubt boost morale ahead of the start of the Leinster Championship next month though.

The team in full is: Neil Gallagher; Padraig Rath, Mick Fanning, John O’Brien; Darren O’Hanlon, Derek Crilly, Adrian Reid; Paddy Keenan, Brian Donnelly; Patrick Reilly, Brian White, Bevan Duffy; Andy McDonnell, Shane Lennon, Kevin Rogers.

Louth claim first victory of 2014 over Westmeath

Liam Shevlin

Louth claimed their first victory of the year after beating Westmeath by 1-14 to 0-10 in the O’Byrne Cup in Drogheda yesterday.

Going off level at the break in the knowledge that the wind would be at their backs on the restart, Aidan O’Rourke’s side never looked back in the second half as they claimed a morale-boosting win ahead of their league opener with Armagh on February 2^nd.

Westmeath had started the brighter with points from Alan Giles and Gavin Hoey but Louth responded well with Adrian Reid and Robert Brodigan firing points either side of a sixth minute goal from Liam Shevlin – the Dreadnots man finding the bottom corner after being picked out by Declan Byrne.

A further Shevlin point on 10 minutes had the hosts 1-3 to 0-2 in front but Westmeath slowly fought their way back into it with three of the next four points, including a brace from Callum McCormack.

Two Dessie Dolan frees either side of a Denis Glennon point then had the Midlanders in front approaching half-time only for a Derek Crilly point – Louth’s first in 25 minutes – in first-half stoppage time leaving the sides level at the break on a 1-5 to 0-8 scoreline.

After losing William Woods to a serious looking injury after the restart, the Wee County then surged ahead with three unanswered points from Kevin Rogers, Declan Byrne and Shevlin.

The sides then swapped two scores at either end before Louth put the game to bed in the closing stages with further unanswered points from Rogers, Derek Maguire, Byrne, Crilly and Stephen Campbell.

Louth: S McCoy; P Rath, D Finnegan, K McLaughlin; A Reid (0-1), D Crilly (0-2), L Shevlin (1-2); P Keenan, R Brodigan (0-1); D Byrne (0-2), G Connolly B Duffy; W Woods, K Rogers (0-3, 3f), D Maguire (0-2). Subs: C Judge for G Connolly, half-time; A McDonnell for R Brodigan, half-time; S Campbell (0-1) for W Woods, 41 mins; R Brennan for A Reid, 61 mins; D Clarke for K Rogers, 61 mins.