McEneaney has big plans for Wee County

SIXTEEN years have elapsed since these two last bumped into one another in the Leinster Championship but the meeting for which this fixture will always be remembered was played two years earlier in Croke Park.

Laois were seven points up in the provincial semi-final with time almost up when all hell broke loose. The mayhem lasted no more than a minute but spilled from one parallelogram to the opposing ‘40’.

The counties were fairly regular bedfellows at that time so maybe familiarity bred contempt but the remainder of their 19 meetings have rarely garnered many headlines, good, bad or indifferent.

Tomorrow’s chapter will be written without the accompaniment of any live TV cameras, which is an indication of the depths to which Laois have fallen since their 2003 high as well as Louth’s perennial propensity to disappoint. Laois pursued their trade in a higher division than the Wee men this spring but Eamonn McEneaney’s men come to the table with the benefit of a championship game, against Carlow, under their belts. But the Louth boss downplays that outing.

“It rained from start to finish and underfoot conditions were pretty bad even at the start,” said McEneaney. “By the end of the game it had completely deteriorated. It had been a very bad week, but it will be a different kettle of fish this time. The ground is fairly firm. It is championship football time and we would expect that Laois will come strong, as they always do in championship. We are a team in transition over the last year or so.

“We are improving but I would feel that we still have a bit to do.”

Was the Carlow game a benefit? “You would hope so but every game is a new game and we have to try and approach it in that fashion. Nobody is giving us a chance and we know that so we are under no pressure. We have to just go out and try and play our best football and see where that takes us.”

Louth’s recent experiences in the Leinster Championship don’t inspire confidence. The last time they featured in a semi-final was 1998. They have had their moments though, most especially two years ago when Cork squeezed past them and into an All-Ireland quarter-final by two points after Louth had already defeated Limerick and Kildare.

Putting 70 minutes together has not been their forte however and that has crippled their ambitions time and again under McEneaney who is deep into a five-year term as manager.

“It would be, surely. We have to try and make sure that, for this game tomorrow, that remains our focus. Even when you are not playing well, it is about trying to limit teams to as little as possible and that is something that we haven’t done. In last year’s championship, with 49 minutes on the clock, we were a couple of points behind Dublin. Seven or eight minutes later we were eight to ten points behind. It is all about when you have a lull and what you do at that stage before pushing on again yourself.

“We have a lot of young lads on our team but they are very committed and I couldn’t say enough good things about the Louth players in terms of their attitude.”

The good news is that Laois look vulnerable to an ambush in the tight confines of Donnycarney. Parnell Park will be foreign to most of their number, unlike Louth who also possess a larger core of experience in their side.

“They had some good and some bad results but Laois were operating a level above us in the league. They were able to go up to Armagh and win and they beat Fermanagh at home as well. They lost heavily against Monaghan but they had nothing to play for. They paid absolutely no heed to that match at all.”