They didn't get going for Ryan, but Longford have another day

LOUTH MANAGER Peter Fitzpatrick stood on the sideline and smiled after it was put to him that Louth will have to improve dramatically if there are to become Leinster champions.

This marked his first championship match as a manager and it was a happy start. In the sunshine. That is enough for one day.

“Our next game is Kildare and I am not even thinking about titles,” he admitted.

“All I want to do is to beat Kildare and get to a semi-final. I thought it was an all-round performance, we used 17 or 18 players there today. I thought the timing of the goal was very important. In fairness to Longford, I knew they would come back.

“But I have faith in this team, they are a young fit team and having the four-point cushion was important. We knew Longford would go for goals but we just held out in the end. I felt the football today in general was very good. It was a clean sporting game. I felt the best team won. We showed Longford a lot of respect, we have played them a number of times in the last few years and I think Glenn Ryan has done a great job with them. All we want to do is get a crack at Kildare.”

They have earned that. But the requirements of that occasion will be sterner in that match. Longford were prosaic in most things that they did and could never summon the devil-may-care enthusiasm that they whipped up against Kerry in last year’s memorable exit from the qualifiers.

The most disappointing thing for Glenn Ryan was that they had been beaten without giving what he feels is a true impression of their worth.

“I do, yeah. I do feel that. But unfortunately we haven’t reached at this stage what I think we are capable of and it is very disappointing. We were decimated with injuries during the year, but it didn’t cost us the game. It was our performance that cost us.

“The wides were a killer but a lot of those were shots that shouldn’t have been taken in the first half. We could have recycled the ball and taken easier chances. We have opportunities to be closer than four points but we just didn’t reach the level that we needed to be at.”

This is Ryan’s second summer in charge of Longford and once again he is faced with the dubious consolation of the qualifiers. For Fitzpatrick, the adventure is just starting and he can prepare for Kildare with a full heart.

“This is my first championship game and I am very proud of the boys,” the Louth man said.

“They didn’t let me down.”