Louth v London – All Ireland Junior Championship in Clan na Gael, Saturday 27th July

 July 26, 2019

On Saturday, at Clan na Gael, Dundalk (12.30pm), Louth take on London in the All Ireland Junior Championship.

Please note there will be no parking within the Clan na Gael grounds.

If you can’t make it to Dundalk, this game can be watched live on on the LGFA Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/LadiesGaelicFootball/

Following their 16 point victory over Carlow, Louth go into Saturday afternoon’s (12:30) clash with London in Clan Na Gael Park knowing a win will secure a place in the All Ireland semi finals next month.

When these two counties met at the same stage twelve months ago in Ruislip  it was Louth who emerged winners on a 1:17 to 2:11 scoreline.

On that occasion London gave Louth plenty to think about and with seven minutes left the sides were level (2:9 to 1:12) with the superior fitness of the visitors proving deceive in them getting the win. For London apart from an outing against Warwickshire in the British final, this is a first competitive match since losing to Limerick in the semi final last August and are a county not a lot is known about.

Limerick man Paddy Bowles is in his second year in charge along with Tyrone native Ryan Jones and Paul Moyna from Derry will be calling the shots from the dug out and may opt for  containment early on and see how far that takes them.

Paddy Bowles has been impressed with Louth’s recent performance, “They had an off day in last year’s final but have been very impressive this year. We will be looking to build on last year’s good showing where we had a good win over Antrim to reach the semi final where we lost eventual winners Limerick” said the London boss.

Despite losing star forward Lisa Cafferky who has returned home and will be a major loss, they have quality performer’s in ex mayo star Katryn Barnett, captain Catriona McGahon, Nicolle Comann, Ara Usher and Fiona Morrissey.

With no involvement in the National League and with a number of new additions from Mayo, Dublin and Meath  in their ranks, how does this affect  Louth’s approach;

“It does make it very difficult for ourselves to do any sort of preparation work on the players London have, but I would expect that they would be tough opposition. London will be certainly be an unknown task as they have not played in any of our competitions so far this year and they have had up on ten players join their panel from last year. When we faced them last year it was a fantastic game and we only shaded it by three points so I have no doubt that the match on Saturday will be similar.

Training has been going well, the girls have had another round of club championship which has been tough on them so it’s important we continue to monitor how they are doing and coping with so many training sessions and games.”

One notable absentee is Eimear Murray, unfortunately under medical advice the St. Kevin’s defender has had to pull out for the remainder of the year with a hamstring issue. She has been a driving force within the group and her experience will certainly be missed.

Leading into this London match we have been very pleased with how the girls have been playing. The Carlow match was certainly a huge positive and the team showed a real sense of purpose throughout the match.  We are really looking forward to it as its a great opportunity to face off against one of the top teams in the junior championship who where very unlucky not to make the All Ireland Final last year.

Louth will prepare as normal, the same as any other game and we hope to see as many Louth supporters as possible as its our only home championship game this year” said Louth manager Darren Bishop

The lack of match practice maybe a factor in the outcome of this game with Louth hell bent on banishing the hurt of the All Ireland final loss to Limerick.

London will take heart from that fine showing of 12 months ago as they prepare to face a Louth team who beat Carlow a fortnight ago as they look to make a big impact in the All Ireland series.

The successful Louth U16 team and management who beat Sligo in the All Ireland final on Wednesday will be guests of honour of Louth Co. Board and will be introduced to the crowd at half time

Preview by Dermot Woods