Callaghan to miss All-Ireland SFC semi-final as Louth opt against appeal

Seán Hurson gives a red card to Sean Callaghan of Louth. Pic: James Lawlor/Inpho

Louth will definitely be without Seán Callaghan for their All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Mayo after confirming they won't appeal his one-match suspension.

The Ardee St Mary's man was shown a straight red card for a high challenge on Monaghan's Oisín McGorman early in last weekend's quarter-final tie at Croke Park.

McGorman played on after the collision, and scored a goal, though it was later confirmed that the Monaghan player suffered a broken jaw.

Louth manager Gavin Devlin said that they considered appealing the red card but decided not to, for fear of the ban potentially being doubled if they were unsuccessful, potentially ruling Callaghan out of an All-Ireland final.

Asked at their press day ahead of next weekend's All-Ireland semi-final if they'd appealed the sanction, Devlin shook his head.

"No, because we were hearing vibes in and out through different areas that what we were chasing was a two-man ban, instead of a one-match ban," said Devlin.

"I don't know whether we have a 50 percent chance, or a 40 percent chance, or maybe a 20 percent chance of winning this game (against Mayo), but whatever those chances are, I certainly don't want it on my conscience if we were to get to an All-Ireland final that Seán wouldn't be available for it. No, we didn't appeal it at all on the basis of that."

Mayo have been installed as narrow favourites to beat Louth and to return to their first final since 2021.

Devlin said he understands why people might feel that Mayo are a hard team to prepare for, given how their play can appear off the cuff at times.

"There's that narrative out there that Mayo play with this chaos, rather than being scripted or structured, (but) the last day against Cork, Mayo's defence was mammoth," he said.

"We've been analysing it this week. Their defensive principles and how they bounce off each other and how they condense space, and how they create jumps and traps is back up to wherever it was before.

"I suppose Paddy Tally, no doubt his fingerprints are all over it. We're under no illusions at all defensively about what they bring.

"And they've got these star players up the field in Kobe and O'Donoghue and Beirne. They have star quality. Matthew Ruane isn't starting now and Loftus didn't start the last day, so they've got strong stuff to bring off the bench as well.

"Mayo are in a beautiful place and they'll see this game, like ourselves, as 'Wow, what an opportunity'."

Former Tyrone defender Devlin suggested that Mayo possess an element of surprise this year also.

"Probably this year, as opposed to previous years when they were punching with Dublin, they're coming under the radar," he said.

"There's probably not as much expectancy on them and here they find themselves one game away from another All-Ireland final.

"With Andy Moran and Tally there as well, they're just coming underneath the radar beautifully and, I suppose, inwardly they realise that they have a fantastic opportunity here, like ourselves."