O’Rourke steps down as Louth boss

Aidan O’Rourke

Aidan O’Rourke has called time on his tenure as manager of the Louth senior footballers after two seasons in charge.

O’Rourke’s decision comes in the wake of the Wee County’s thumping qualifier defeat to Tyrone last Saturday and a similar reverse against Kildare in the Leinster quarter-final.

While the league brought relegation from Division 2, victory over Westmeath in the Leinster preliminary round raised the prospect of an upturn.

However, the nature of the subsequent defeat seems has prompted O’Rourke not to take up the option of a third year at the helm.

Aidan O’Rourke subsequently issued a statement via the Louth county board.

“After a short period of reflection with the management team & senior players I have decided not to take up the option of a third season in charge of the Louth Senior team.

“We have worked hard to change the culture of the group and create a high performance environment for players to develop and excel in over the past two years but this season’s results do not reflect progress from season one.

“I would like to thank the players who worked so hard over that period, striving to improve and making lifestyle sacrifices that belie their amateur status. Taking this decision was made more difficult by the strong desire from the senior players to continue the work we had begun.

“I would like to place on record my appreciation to the Louth County Executive Committee for their support during our guidance of the team.

“I would like to thank the people who served the players as part of the management team under me. Each worked diligently towards the daily goal of improving the players and enhancing the team.”

Louth County Board chairman Padraic O’Connor has also thanked O’Rourke for his effort during his time in charge.

Donegal defeat consigns Louth to relegation

Louth will be playing in Division Three next season after yesterday’s 1-19 to 3-7 defeat to Donegal in Ballyshannon, coupled with Galway’s victory over Armagh, consigned them to relegation.

The game was practically over as a contest in the first-half with the home side leading by 0-13 to 1-1 at the break, with Louth’s goal being poked home by Shane Lennon a minute before the interval.

Further goals from Paddy Keenan and Brian White in the second half did briefly reduce deficit back to three but the 2012 All-Ireland champions never looked in trouble and barely had to get out of second gear as David Walsh’s late goal secured a comfortable win.

Donegal were totally dominant in the middle third in the first half with Christy Toye and Rory Kavanagh scoring four points between them before the break.

Louth lost two players to black cards and took their time to adjust. Full-back Dessie Finnegan was forced off in the fourth minute and full-forward Eoin O’Connor joined him in the 30th minute for hauling down Colm McFadden.

Dermot Molloy, playing on the forty, scored two points from play in the opening half with wing back Anthony Thompson also on the scoresheet as Donegal raced clear.

Louth midfielders Paddy Keenan and Brian Donnelly were much improved in the second half, as they looked to spearhead a revival from the Wee County.
Toye’s third point, a Michael Murphy free and a Colm McFadden point extended Donegal’s lead to 0-16 to 1-2 after 47 minutes.

Louth then enjoyed their best spell of the game, registering an unanswered 2-2 in the space of five minutes.

A brace of points from Brian White was followed by two goals in a minute from Keenan and White, who both drove straight through the middle of the Donegal defence to drill goals past netminder Paul Durcan.

With their cushion cut to three points, substitute David Walsh settled any Donegal nerves with a goal after 56 minutes.

A Lennon free and a point from Bevan Duffy did reduce the deficit to four points again, before Murphy scored his only point from play to complete a convincing win for Donegal, which virtually assures instant promotion for them back to the league’s top tier.

DONEGAL: P Durcan; E McGee, N McGee, K Lacey; Declan Walsh (0-1), L McLoone, A Thompson (0-1); R Kavanagh (0-2), C Toye (0-3); M McHugh, D Molloy (0-2), O McNelis; C McFadden (0-6, 0-3f), Michael Murphy (0-04, 0-3f), P McBrearty. Subs: R McHugh for Lacey (half-time), David Walsh (1-0) for McBrearty (55 mins), L Keaney for Thompson, G McFadden for Kavanagh (both 69).

LOUTH: N Gallagher; P Rath, D Finnegan, J O’Brien; G O’Hare, D Crilly, A Reid; P Keenan (1-0), B Donnelly; P Reilly, B White (1-3, 0-1f), S Campbell; A McDonnell, E O’Connor, S Lennon (1-03, 0-2f). Subs: D O’Hanlon for Finnegan (black card, 4 mins), C Judge for Campbell (21), B Duffy (0-1) for O’Connor (black card, 30), D Brown for Judge (32), D Clarke for Donnelly (63), L Shevlin for Reilly (65).

Referee: Martin Higgins (Fermanagh).

Louth GAA supporters running bus to Donegal this Sunday

The Louth GAA Supporters’ Club are running a bus to Donegal this Sunday March 30^th.

The bus will leave Drogheda at 9am and Dundalk at 9.30am.

For further details or booking contact Kieran on 042-9354140 Gerry McGee on 0867500414 after 5pm or Brian Matthews on 087 2830308.

The game will be played in Ballyshannon with Aidan O’Rourke’s side needing a win to help them avoid relegation to Division Three next season.

Monaghan hit Louth hurlers with late sucker punch

Just as with their footballing colleagues, the Louth hurlers went down to Monaghan on a 0-15 to 1-11 scoreline in Aughnamullen on Sunday.

The Wee County looked set for their first victory of the season when they led by two points with just two minutes remaining. However, Monaghan managed to draw level before landing a winning point with the last puck of the game.

A Gerard Smyth goal had given Diarmuid McCarthy’s side a 1-6 to 0-4 lead at the break and that looked like it would prove enough in the end until the Farney men struck for the closing three points to turn the game on its head.

Louth now face Longford at home next weekend in a real battle to avoid relegation.

LOUTH: Rory O’Reilly; Andy McCrave, Brian Carter, Conor Kerrigan; Cathal Ryan, Cian Hayes, Ronan Byrne 0-2; Shane Callan 0-1, Jason Condon; Andy Mackin, Gary Rellis, Gerard Smyth 1-1; David O’Mahony 0-1, Diarmuid Murphy 0-5, David Kettle 0-1. Subs: Shane Maguire for G Rellis, Darren O’Hanrahan for G Smyth.

Completing a hat-trick of Monaghan wins over Louth at the weekend, the Monaghan minor hurlers beat the Wee County by 7-27 to 0-2 in the Ulster Minor Hurling League in Inniskeen on Saturday.