Louth ready for Royal showdown, says Lennon

SHANE LENNON is confident Louth can cope with the pressures of their first appearance in a Leinster SFC final in half a century next month.

The Wee County booked their place in the provincial showpiece by defeating Westmeath on Sunday and now face a rampant Meath, who drilled five goals past Dublin keeper Stephen Cluxton at the weekend.

But full-forward Lennon, who will once again play with a cast on his injured right hand, has no worries about the mindset of his team on such a momentous occasion.

“It’s a huge match for Louth, particularly as the county hasn’t appeared in a Leinster final since 1960,” admitted Lennon, who shot two points in the 1-15 to 2-10 win over the Lake County.”

He claimed that there will be greater pressure on the Royals.

“But it’s also a huge match for Meath, and after beating Dublin so convincingly I think there’s much more pressure on them than there is on us. Our fans will be hoping we continue our winning run, but I think the expectation of Meath fans will be massive, and they won’t be thinking in terms of their team losing to us.”

The Kilkerley Emmets club man also dismissed the view that Louth will be resting on their laurels after this incredible run through the championship.

He insisted: “We’re not happy to just be there. Louth haven’t won a provincial football title since 1957, and now that we’re in the final, we want to win the title. We scored 1-22 against Kildare and 1-15 against Westmeath, and hopefully we will have another big scoring total against Meath.”

But Lennon acknowledges that it will take a five-star performance from Peter Fitzpatrick’s troops if they are to prevent the Royals from lifting the provincial trophy for the first time since 2001.

“Any side that scores five goals against Dublin at Croke Park, and wins the match by 11 points, has to have a lot going for it. Meath have great forwards and great backs, and they’re likely to have a few of their injured players back for the Leinster final.”

Interestingly, Lennon, who also served under previous Louth bosses Val Andrews, for one year, and Eamonn McEneaney, for four years, will have to put a personal friendship with Meath midfielder Mark Ward on hold for 70 minutes on Sunday week.

“Mark and myself were at UCD together for a few years,” he explained. “We played on the college Sigerson Cup team for a few years, and we also won a Dublin county championship medal with UCD in 2006. We’ve kept in touch since we left college, and I’m sure we’ll have a few words in the Leinster final.”