Kernan: Inniskeen doesn’t give Louth the edge

By Shaun Casey

TAKING Armagh to Inniskeen won’t give Louth the edge in Sunday’s All-Ireland Championship clash according to former Orchard attacker Tony Kernan.

The Crossmaglen native is currently coaching Monaghan club Inniskeen, under the management of John McEntee, so has a firm grasp on how the venue will look and feel for the travelling side.

Louth played championship encounters against Meath and Cork at the Monaghan location in 2024 and will be more familiar with their surroundings than Armagh, who haven’t played there since a McKenna Cup game back in 2010.

“I don’t think it really gives Louth a huge advantage against Armagh. Possibly it would against another team, but not Armagh,” said the 2008 Ulster Championship winner.

“The Armagh boys just seem to be in their own wee bubble, and their preparation will be spot on and I’d expect to get a performance from them.

“There are other teams that maybe haven’t perfected their preparation the same way Armagh have and the venue might distract them or put them off, but I’d expect Armagh to hopefully put in the type of performance that they have been producing. It won’t be that big of an issue for them.

He continued: “Inniskeen have brilliant facilities and it’s a great pitch. The pitch, I understand, has the same dimensions as Croke Park so there won’t be an issue in terms of the field.

“There will be a smaller crowd, and I know from way back at the start of my county career, playing in Crossmaglen, the atmosphere used to be fantastic.

“The Armagh boys have been used to playing in the Athletic Grounds the last few years, I don’t think there’s a venue with as good an atmosphere for a county game with a full house, so they won’t be daunted by it in any way, shape or form.”

A neutral venue in round two of the championship following an open draw is something Kernan feels the GAA will have to look at moving forward.

“I do think it’s the one thing the GAA will probably tweak ahead of next year. I think it was okay having the home venues for the teams that got to their provincial finals in the first draw, but when it’s an open draw, it probably should be at a neutral venue.”

Kernan was involved with the last Armagh team to get their hands on the Anglo Celt Cup 18 years ago, although Kieran McGeeney’s men finally ended that long wait this season.

Getting that particular provincial monkey off their backs will help them moving forward says Kernan, who was impressed with their display the last day out when they defeated Derry by five points in round one.

“I think the win in Ulster has given them a huge confidence boost, it was hanging over them for a couple of years that they hadn’t won one and I’m sure they’ll believe it’s another stepping stone to where they are going.

“Derry were standing in their way. I don’t believe the celebrations went on too long after winning Ulster and the boys were able to go out and perform against Derry.

“Whatever opposition is in front of them, they just go out and play their gameplan. As it turned out, Derry weren’t fit to live with them and it was a great result for them.”

Avoiding a lengthy trip to Donegal or Galway was probably Armagh’s main concern ahead of the Round 2A draw, but Kernan feels the Wee County certainly shouldn’t be underestimated.

“I wouldn’t say we’re happy with the draw, but you can’t but be happy with where Armagh are at,” he continued. “There seems to be a real deep-rooted confidence with how they’re going about their business.

“In previous years you might have been worried about them getting above their station, but they have their preparation down to a tee and that’s credit to the management and the senior players in the group.”

Kernan also believes that Louth will take massive confidence from their victory over Dublin at GAA Headquarters nearly a fortnight ago.

“Since Mickey Harte went in a couple of years ago, they’ve flipped things on their heads and started to put foundations in place in the background to facilitate the team being able to perform at this level.

“This year, they were probably disappointed with how slow they were at the start of the league, and they revisited how they were setting up which worked quite well for them,. They were unfortunate not to get promoted.

“The first Dublin game possibly knocked them back a bit but they’ll take huge confidence from their performance and result in Croke Park against Dublin on their last day out.

“They seem to enjoy playing in Inniskeen and there’s familiarity there. They’ve got good results against Cork and Meath there in recent years, so they’ll be going in confident They’ll be more than happy with where they are sitting. From an Armagh perspective, we’re just hoping they arrive and perform and carry out the professional job they have been doing so far in the championship.”

Last meeting

2024 NFL Armagh 0-12 Louth 0-11

When these sides last met, this Armagh group had no Ulster or All-Ireland medals while Louth were still chasing a long provincial drought. That has all changed in the two years since their 2024 league meeting, which Armagh edged by the minimum of margins. Conor Turbitt was the main man up top for Armagh and finished with 0-5 while the recently retired Stefan Campbell nabbed 0-3 from play. Louth, who had more individual scorers on the day with eight different names on the scoresheet, looked to Sam Mulroy to carry the fight and he registered 0-3.

Armagh: B Hughes; P Burns, C Higgins, P McGrane; B McCambridge, G McCabe, A Forker (0-1); B Crealey, Ciaran Mackin; Conor O’Neill, R Grugan (0-2, 1f), J McElroy; S Campbell (0-3), C Turbitt (0-5, 4f), O Conaty (0-1).

Subs: S McParland for C Higgins, J Burns for B McCambridge, J Hall for G McCabe, O O’Neill for B Crealey, J Duffy for A Forker.

Louth: N McDonnell; D McKenny, D Campbell (0-1), P Lynch; C Lennon, A Williams, C Murphy; C Early, T Durnin (0-1); P Mathews (0-1), C Keenan (0-1), C Grimes (0-1); R Burns (0-1), S Mulroy (0-3, 3f), C Downey (0-2).

Subs: L Grey for C Murphy (blood sub), C McCaul for C Early, L Grey for C Murphy, D McKeown for R Burns, W Campbell for P Mathews, K McElroy for C Keenan.

Last five meetings

2024 Div 2

Armagh 0-12 Louth 0-11

2017 Div 3

Louth 0-10 Armagh 3-15

2015 Div 3

Armagh 0-10 Louth 0-8

2014 Div 2

Louth 0-16Armagh 1-13

2013 Div 2

Armagh 1-10 Louth 1-12

Season so far

Monaghan

NFL

Monaghan 0-18 Armagh 1-27

Armagh 0-20 Galway 3-12

Roscommon 3-18 Armagh 0-24

Armagh 0-19 Donegal 1-20

Mayo 2-17 Armagh 0-22

Dublin 1-25 Armagh 2-24

Armagh 1-21 Kerry 0-24

USFC

Armagh 1-17 Tyrone 1-16 AET

Fermanagh 1-24 Armagh 2-32

Armagh 3-33 Down 0-14

Monaghan 0-25 Armagh 2-28 AET

All-Ireland

Armagh 1-18 Derry 1-13

Louth

NFL

Offaly 0-19 Louth 1-21

Louth 1-12 Cork 1-17

Meath 1-20 Louth 0-22

Louth 1-15 Tyrone 0-13

Cavan 1-12 Louth 1-22

Louth 1-19 Derry 0-18

Kildare 0-25 Louth 1-25

LSFC

Louth 1-25 Wexford 0-11

Dublin 0-20 Louth 0-10

All-Ireland

Dublin 1-24 Louth 4-18

Top Scorers

Armagh

Oisin O’Neill 3-50 (15f, 5tpf, 3tp)

Conor Turbitt 3-37 (4tp, 4f)

Cian McConville 1-34 (14f, 1tp)

Louth

Sam Mulroy 3-55 (17f, 7tpf, 6tp, 2-0pen, 3 45)

Ciaran Downey 1-14 (1tp)

Dara McDonnell 0-17 (3tp)