Califf answers SOS call as Louth evolve the sweeper keeper

Mickey Harte handed the gloves to James Califf for the last 10 games of the season, the clear high point of which was securing promotion and winning the Division 3 title.

Sat, 18 Mar, 2023 - 07:21

Paul Keane

The story goes that it was coach Gavin Devlin that hit on the plan to solve Louth's goalkeeping dilemma by converting an outfield player.

That was in the early months of 2022, following Craig Lynch's retirement, and after trawling through hours of club footage, Devlin figured that James Califf would fit the bill.

Califf had impressed Manchester United youth coaches enough 20 years earlier to be included in goals in a team they sent to the Foyle Cup competition, even saving a penalty to send the side through to the final against Home Farm Leeds.

In the meantime, however, he played at midfield for Louth for the bones of a decade and by the time Devlin convinced Harte that he could solve their goalkeeping problems, he was two years into inter-county retirement.

As a stop gap measure, it worked out okay because after initially experimenting with Niall Carrie and Martin McEneaney between the sticks early in the 2022 season, Harte handed the gloves to Califf for the last 10 games of the season, the clear high point of which was securing promotion and winning the Division 3 title.

It was then that things got really interesting because Califf, newly married and with a busy job in Dublin, not to mention his coaching involvement with the Louth minors, returned to retirement last winter.

Now Harte was back to square one and with Devlin's plan apparently still in mind, he plucked Declan Byrne, a cracking Louth forward for many years, out of retirement and started him in goals twice in this season's O'Byrne Cup. McEneaney was back between the sticks for the final against Longford but Harte reverted to Byrne for the first round of the National League against Clare.

Byrne kept a clean sheet but Louth lost and for the Round 2 date with Derry, Harte remarkably turned to another outfield player, Peter McStravick, who had never played in goals for club or county, to wear the number one jersey. McStravick had actually come on twice in the O'Byrne Cup as an outfield player. Shortly after this, news broke in the north east that Byrne and McEneaney had left the panel entirely.

McStravick remained in goals for Round 3 against Limerick before Harte put out an SOS to Califf to return. Two Harte soundbites at the time explained his thinking on the issue; firstly that 'it's widely known that we don't have the kind of Niall Morgans or the Cluxtons (in Louth), these set 'keepers who are just born to be 'keepers' and secondly that, sometimes, you simply 'have to gamble a bit here and there'.

So Califf is back now and having conceded just one goal across the two wins over Meath and Kildare, will return to Ardee on Sunday against Cork optimistic of further gains.

"I had taken a step back at the start of the year," said Califf. "I just said I had other things on. As things happened, I came back in then two weeks before the Meath game. To be fair, a lot of work went on before I was there with Steve Williams, the goalkeeping coach, with Declan, Martin and Peter, they all did a lot of good work.

"The results mightn't have followed when they were in goals but I think fair play to them for stepping up and giving it a shot. I'm still learning every week myself. Peter is only new to the scene but I'm definitely picking things up from him, from stuff he's doing, and we're bouncing off eachother."

Harte has presided over 27 competitive games in all as Louth manager, between the O'Byrne Cup, National League and Championship. In that 22-month period he has tried out six different goalkeepers; McEneaney, Lynch, Carrie, Byrne, McStravick and Califf. Califf has played the most, 12 games, and conceded just 9 goals though net-minding isn't the principal reason he is there. Byrne, after all, kept two clean sheets in his three games earlier this year, and only leaked one goal overall, but still didn't work out.

The clear picture being built up is that Harte and Devlin are looking to create a sweeper 'keeper, in the mould of Morgan whom they managed with Tyrone, or Armagh's Ethan Rafferty or Monaghan's Rory Beggan.

Califf came out to get involved in the play regularly in the win over Meath, often taking up a position at midfield for opposition kick-outs, though he wasn't as adventurous last time out against Kildare. It is a work in progress that Cork will certainly look to exploit to some degree.

If they've reviewed the tape of the Meath game, for instance, they will have identified the couple of occasions when the Royals had half chances for goals - both of which they fluffed - when Califf had left the nets.

"It's about feeling the moments in the match, when the moment is right, picking the right moments to go, if we're chasing the match or whatever way the scoreboard might be looking," explained Califf.

"Each game is different. There could have been times against Kildare alright that I could have been further out but just with the way the game was going, we had a five-point cushion during the match and you have to be a bit conservative at times too, so look, it's a very fluid role. You just have to use your experience to know when the time is right to go."

Louth will presumably be back in goalkeeping limbo if Califf retires again at the end of the season. But there is much to play for in between. If they beat Cork and Dublin, as big an ask as that is, they'll be promoted to Division 1.

"Cork are flying, Dublin are obviously going well to be in the position they are but I think we're steadily putting performances together ourselves and whoever the opposition is, we'll be up for the fight," said Califf.

"This has been coming for the last couple of years. Mickey has been really building something for the last three years really, since he has been in. What gives me most joy is the amount of kids coming up to the players after matches, you'd really notice the difference. It was a sell out against Kildare the last day. The future is bright but every week is different."