Allianz Football League Division Two, round four
Louth v Down (Sunday, Drogheda, 2.30pm)
FEW men are better placed to analyse Sunday’s crucial Division Two showdown in Drogheda than Cathal Murray.
The Clonduff man was part of Down’s All-Ireland winning panel in 1994, has been at the heart of the county’s production line with St Colman’s College during recent decades, and was part of Eamonn Burns’s backroom team when Down last reached an Ulster final eight years ago.
Louth, though, has become a home from home in footballing terms.
He was involved during the two years of Wayne Kierans’ rein, prior to Mickey Harte’s high-profile arrival in the Wee County. When last-gasp defeat to Louth saw Paddy Tally’s Mournemen miss out on promotion on the final day of the 2019 Division Three campaign, Murray found himself in the away dugout at Pairc Esler.
Ever since, he has been at the forefront of a mass Down exodus along the M1, leading St Mary’s, Ardee to a first county senior crown in 27 years in his first year at the helm.
And they haven’t looked back since – completing the hat-trick in the two years since before, last December, coming within minutes of beating eventual All-Ireland champions Cuala in the Leinster decider.
As well as Murray, there are nine other Down natives currently either managing or coaching in the Wee County – fellow All-Ireland winner Miceal Magill is in his fifth season with Geraldine’s, then there’s Steven Poacher (St Mochta’s), John Kennedy and Niall McParland (St Fechin’s), Ronan McCartan (Dreadnots), Kevin McKernan (Dundalk Gaels), Marty Rafferty (Roche Emmets), Eamon Morgan (Dundalk Young Irelands), Glenn Burden (Na Piarsaigh) and Larry McAlinden (Naomh Malachi).
Throw in former Down boss James McCartan, part of Ger Brennan’s Louth backroom team alongside Niall Moyna – involved with the Mournemen during McCartan’s first spell in charge – and the crossover is complete.
For Murray, making the short trip south was a straightforward decision.
He had seen the talent coming through in Louth, while the openness of the club scene – compared to the often prescribed, predictable nature of the fare on offer in Down – was all the reason he needed to seek a change of landscape.
Heading into a fourth year, he couldn’t be happier.
“I’ve never been with a team that long before.
“I’m two minutes from the motorway, then it’s a straight run to Ardee. Honestly, it’s the most exciting team, most exciting project, I’ve ever been involved with.
“It would depress you to watch some of the football in Down. There still is that freedom in Louth to some degree, though I could definitely see a change last year with a more defensive approach from certain teams.
“But in the first couple of years a lot of teams were still going for it, there wasn’t as many sweepers, or defensive structures and systems. It was still quite pure in it’s way.”
To that end, he knows exactly the scale of the challenge Down faced at the Gaelic Grounds.
Both come into the game off the back of a second defeat in three games as the League reaches it’s midway point – defeat for either, at this stage, leaving nervy looks over the shoulder from here on in.
And, particularly in the new rule era, Murray fears an age-old problem could continue to be their Achilles heel.
“Down lack size – that’s a major problem, and has been for a long time.
“When I was involved with Louth, we had Tommy Durnin, 6′4″, and James Califf was 6′6″, in the middle of the field. I think they were up against Caolan [Mooney] and Johnny Flynn in midfield.
“With the importance of kick-outs now under the new rules, there’s such a battle in the midfield now, and you saw that last week with Meath. That’s one thing that has really come against us.
“Under the old rules, they had adapted a way of playing where maybe you could get away without having the size other teams have, not lumping it out to the middle, working it through the hands and through the lines.
“Aaron McClements and Conor Francis came off the bench and did well around the middle last week; we have to be patient. There’s no doubt they have the players, but it’s finding a system for those players to combine that best suits them and gives them an advantage over bigger, more physically imposing teams.”
Louth: N McDonnell; D Nally, D Campbell, D McKenny; C McKeever, P Lynch, D Corcoran; T Durnin, C Byrne; A McDonnell, C Downey, C Grimes; C Keenan, S Mulroy, R Burns
Down: TBC