Dogged Derry dig deep to defeat Louth

Louth 1-11

Derry 2-11

Derry maintained their winning start to Division Two after a gritty win over Louth at Pairc Mhuire. Outside of the crucial two points, this was a wretched game and one to forget.

The Oakleafers, disappointing for most of the contest, trailed by two points midway through the second half before a Niall Toner goal swung the game in their favour. Key man Shane McGuigan top scored for the winners with 1-5.

A stodgy, low scoring first half which reeked of defensive tactics saw the sides run in level at 1-6 apiece at half-time. The long grass and heavy surface combined with two heavily packed defensive set ups to negate any hope of fast, offensive football.

Tom Jackson, one of three late changes to the Louth line up, opened scoring at a chilly but bright Pairc Mhuire.

Derry opened their account through Shane McGuigan in the 6th minutes, but not before they butchered one decent goal chance. Daire McConnon and Paul Cassidy exchanged points before Derry flickered into life.

Shane McGuigan was hauled down in the box before slotting home a 9th minute penalty with clinical ease.

A second Cassidy point and one from Padraig McGrogan stretched the Derry advantage to 1-4 to 0-2.

The wides were racking up for the visitors who butchered a number of goal opportunities as well. A ten minute Derry scoring drought followed that score, however. while Louth hit their purple patch to pull the teams level at 1-5 apiece after half an hour. Living off scraps, Mickey Harte’s side were much more clinical in front of the posts.

Liam Jackson was the scorer of Louth’s goal, taking full advantage of Derry defensive dithering.

Derry returned fire when that man McGuigan scored the point of the first half with a lovely curling effort before McGuigan and Daire McConnon swapped frees to see the sides run in level at the break.

Two McGuigan frees handed Derry the perfect start to the second half, but again Louth fought back impressively and hit four of the next five points by the time Tom Jackson’s score left his side 1-10 to 1-08 ahead after 50 minutes.

Trailing by two and not convincing whatsoever, Derry needed something transformative.

Niall Toner’s 58th minute goal was just the tonic. Goalkeeper Peter McStravick flapped at a high ball which fell invitingly into the arms of the in-form Lavey forward. Toner required no second invitation, swivelling quickly before burying the ball in the back of the net.

A monster point from Padraig McGrogan – his second of the game - edged Derry further ahead with the finishing line on the horizon.

Louth, though, still had plenty of fight left. Sam Mulroy’s free left the Wee County two adrift and actively hunting a game winning goal.

But despite the best efforts of the obdurate home side, Derry hit two injury time points through Toner and Oisin McWilliams to ease Oakleaf nerves.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be straight forward down here,” said Derry manager Rory Gallagher after the win. “It’s an old school pitch,” he continued, “and we knew that would probably play into Louth’s hands.

“But we were five points up and in control in the first half but we let it slide carelessly. We had a number of unforced individual errors that we would be very disappointed with. It wasn’t good enough and it wasn’t acceptable.”

Gallagher acknowledged that although they were far from their best, his side deserved the two points.

“While it was a dogged affair and we made mistakes but I think we were the better team.”

“Our goal was symptomatic of our play,” explained the Fermanagh man. “We hit a poor shot into the breeze that fell to Niall Toner who finished it well. And that forced Louth to come out a bit more and they didn’t want to do that.

“Look the environment we’re playing in here today is pretty unique and I suppose that’s a test of character for the boys and they came out of it.

“I don’t think we were ever staring down defeat,” Gallagher continued. “Even though we were two points down we had a strong breeze and plenty of time left. I always felt we were the better team and the chances would come.”

Derry’s latest win gives them four points out of four going into next weekend’s week off. Gallagher is thankful of the break. “I am glad to have it. We have different training schedules for different players and we’ll try and build up to the Meath game. We have three Leinster teams up next – Meath, Kildare and Dublin. Two of them at home thankfully. We’ll take it one game at a time and put everything into the Meath game next.”

Scorers

Derry: S McGuigan 1-5 (2f), N Toner 1-1, P Cassidy 0-2, P McGrogan 0-2, O McWilliams 0-1

Louth: L Jackson 1-0, D McConnon 0-3, S Mulroy 0-3, N Sharkey 0-1, T Jackson 0-1, C Grimes 0-1, T Jackson 0-1, C Keenan 0-1

Teams

Derry: Odhran Lynch, Chrissy McKaigue, Eoin McEvoy, Conor McCluskey, Padraig McGrogan, Conor Doherty, Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers, Niall Toner, Paul Cassidy, Ethan Doherty, Benny Heron, Shane McGuigan, Lachlan Murray, Niall Loughlin

Subs: O McWilliams for E Doherty (45), P Cassidy for E McvEvoy (47), B McCarron for N Loughlin (58), M Downey for L Murray (65), S Downey for B Herron (69)

Louth: Peter McStravuick, Dan Corcoran, Dermot Campbell, Donal McKenny, Leonard Grey, Tom Jackson, Ciaran Murphy, Conor Early, Liam Jackson, Conall McKeever, Sam Mulroy, Niall Sharkey, Daire McConnon, Conor Grimes, Ciaran Downey

Subs: C Lennon for L Jackson (51), T Durnin for C Murphy (64), J Hughes for D McConnoin (64), B Dugffy for N Sharkey (70)

Referee: Paul Faloon (Down)