Right. I thought we played pretty well today and we opened up Louth on a number of accasions through slick, attacking football. 2-16 is an excellent tally and we could even afford 13 odd wides too so that emphasises the amount of chances we were able to create.
We got on top early on after they scored the first point of the game and never looked back to be honest. Our six forwards shared the scoring and accounted for 2-13 from play which is fair going. The midfield dominated for the vast majority of the game with Paddy Keenan (good player) only belatedly coming into it for them after Eric Bradley went off injured.
The defence was comfortable enough all through and they only really got a run of points near the end after we’d taken our foot off the gas somewhat in the last quarter after being 2-12 to 0-7 up by that stage. We were 0-10 to 0-5 up at half time after playing against the breeze and Forde and Roche got two well taken goals in the 3rd quarter to end the game as a contest.
Overall, the effort, application and quality was of a decent standard and, though there’s still much work to be done and this is only Division 3 after all, going through the 7 games undefeated is an excellent platform ahead of the championship season. The additional game to come against Fermanagh will also be another useful run out ahead of the championship opener against Meath or Carlow.
Well done to the lads and Jason Ryan and his backroom team. They surpassed my expectations at the outset of the campaign as I thought it would take longer for the new management team to bed themselves in. Fair play to all of them.
Ratings:
Masterson 7 - Not much to do. Made one good save just after we scored our first goal. Kick-outs were generally good bar a couple over the 70 minutes.
Malone 7 - Solid enough. Good positional sense, cut out a few attacks and set us off on the attack again.
Wallace 7 - Excellent in the first half and dominated his patch. Shane Lennon tested him more in the second half and got a couple of points but was safe and secure.
Murphy, N 6.5 - Booked for a late tackle in their first attack and subsequently ticked before half time. In between he was his usual dogged self and did quite well. Probably a shrewd enough decision by Ryan to take him off at half time as he was on a knife-edge with a second yellow on the cards.
Morrissey 7.5 - Thought he was excellent. Aggressive and sharp in defence and drove forward with possession and in support too.
Murphy, D 7 - Another solid performance. Held the centre well, made a number of good interceptions and tackles and was quietly competent.
Morris 7 - Played well in the first half and got forward intelligently before retiring injured at half time.
Doyle 7.5 - Won oceans of possession and passed it on simply and effectively. Did exactly what he’s in the side to do.
Bradley 7.5 - Held the upper hand over Keenan while on the park and along with Doyle ensured we dominated that sector.
Roche 7.5 - Hovers around the periphery of the game but has an uncanny knack of appearing in the right position to receive a pass in a dangerous area. Scored 1-2 from play - 2 first half points and a quality left-footed finish from a great PJ Banville pass after driving in from the right wing and receiving the pass at pace.
Barry 9 - A joy to watch. Perpetual motion all over the park and dictated our whole attacking game with his quality passing and play-making. Kicked three superb second half points from play too. MOTM.
Flynn 8 - Great workrate all through and in both halves of the pitch and also knocked over 3 smashing points - 2 with his left and 1 with his right.
Lyng 7 - Did quite well despite still not looking as sharp as last season. Kicked an excellent early free from a tight angle and fisted another from play. Also had an assist for Forde’s goal and finished with 3 points, 2 from frees.
Banville 7.5 - Worked his balls off and made countless runs to provide a passing option to the man in possession. Was rewarded with a point from play in each half and did excellently to link up with Roche for the second goal.
Forde 7.5 - Finished with 1-3, all but a point from play. Quality lofted point with his left before half time and then took his goal beautifully - dispossessed their defender, played a sharp one-two with Lyng and dispatched it to the top corner with the outside of his right foot. Scored the last point of the game then with his back to the goal from out wide before getting stupidly sent off.
Subs:
Walsh: Found it tough enough going against their pacy corner forward.
Curtis: Not overly involved.
Howlin: Important to get more game time ahead of the championship.
Stafford: See Howlin.
Byrne: Got the last couple of minutes.