JOE BROLLY: Louth not Mouth

THE Dublin wall has fallen. At the final whistle in the Leinster semi-final, people wept. They ran onto the field to grab a blade of grass or a handful of clay. An hour after the final whistle they were still standing on the field, in shock. For the last decade, on the Trinity Old Boys’ chat group, Pat Gilroy has been advocating for amalgamations of other Leinster counties to make the province competitive again: Offalongford. Wexdare. Carlaois. My favourite union was Meath and Louth, which Pat christened ‘Mouth.’ At the weekend, they were Leinster finalists, Louth are champions and amalgamation is off the menu.

Jim Gavin’s new rules scattered knotweed on the Dublin wall. Dull, mechanical control of the game is no longer possible. Skills are back. Unpredictability. Mistakes. Long balls. Forwards taking on their men. I strongly disagreed with the FRC’s three up rule on the basis that it still allowed for a sweeper system, even if was strongly watered down. Jim argued that this would keep lesser teams from getting hidings. I pointed out both to him and to the readers of this column that this was a fallacy.

Before the Jimmy McGuinness formula took hold, Gaelic football had never been more democratic. The games had never been more unpredictable. In the 90s, eight different teams won Sam Maguire, including two first timers. In the next decade, five different teams won it including two more first timers (Tyrone and Armagh). Kildare, Westmeath and Offaly won Leinster championships. There were regular shocks in championship matches. Leads evaporated. Everyone could live in hope.

The new rules have returned us to the mayhem. I would make two changes. One, amend the three up rule to four up. This way, zonal defending becomes impossible and man marking is enforced. Second, I would return to one point for a free, wherever it is kicked from. Two points for a kick from play outside the arc is fair enough. But as things stand, the balance of the games is being skewed by good two-point free-kickers on windy days. Think of Shane Walsh in any of Galway’s league games. Or club games in a gale. Or the recent Ulster semi-final where Armagh played Tyrone off the park yet only won in the end by a single point.

That said, we need only look at what is happening in Leinster to know that the game we loved is back. A few weeks ago, Louth (not Mouth) u-20s beat Dublin in the Leinster semi-final. Then, in the final when they thrashed Meath, it felt like the beginning of a new epoch. Afterwards, their magnificent captain Sean Callaghan gave an interview in his terrific Louth accent, which was great in an era where many of our kids are starting to sound like people from D4 or the Barbie doll animations. “That’s pure roamish,” said the glamorous brunette, “I would need subtitles for that ladeen.” (In Knockmore, ‘roamish’ means unintelligible and ‘ladeen’ is a young lad). It was left to me to translate, which was easy enough given the amount of Derrymen who holidayed in Louth during the Troubles.

If every non-Dub in the entire GAA world celebrated Meath’s win over Dublin like Maradona’s second goal against the English, every non Meath person was cheering on Louth (not Mouth) in Croke Park on Sunday. This was an ancient grievance that had simmered in every Gael’s heart for 15 years. A sense that a very great wrong was done. A wrong that could and should have been righted had the GAA not been such cowards. More importantly, had the GAA shown some integrity. Instead, Meath were confirmed as the 2010 Leinster champions and like anything won without honour, it was not a victory at all. That non-goal (the umpires stood watching as my mother would say “like stewed prunes”) came in the final minute of injury time with Louth a point up.

Fifteen years later, it was time for revenge, and the manner in which they exacted that revenge was delightful and thrilling. Louth have had two years of excellent progress under the messianic guidance of Ger Brennan, an extraordinary and deep human being who served the most sought-after apprenticeship in Gaelic football under Pat Gilroy and then Jim Gavin. Also, football in the county is flourishing and with the U-20s winning Leinster so emphatically, Louth have an arse in their trousers. They have depth. They are building the structures of success. Meath were on a huge high after their electrifying win over Dublin and played very well on Sunday, but Louth are the more substantial, more composed team. My only regret is that Louth didn’t win it with a thrown goal after the hooter had gone.

With this New Order in Leinster, it is time to find a suitable county for the Dubs to amalgamate with. Dubkenny?