Louth 'are here to stay' McConville predicts

Oisin McConville predicts Louth "are here to stay" as the Wee County gets set for their first All-Ireland semi-final since 1957 when they face Mayo at Croke Park on Saturday [18:00 BST].

The 2002 All-Ireland winner with Armagh has been impressed with the rise of his neighbouring county in recent years and feels they are now reaping the rewards of the work put in from the ground up.

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Just five years ago, Louth were beaten by Antrim in a Division Four clash in a Covid-disrupted 2021 that saw both counties ultimately promoted.

The following year, Louth's win over the Saffrons was instrumental in sending them to Division Two where they have remained and coincided with a huge upswing in championship form that also saw them collect the Leinster title last year.

McConville has noticed the gradual gains made by Louth and insists their status as All-Ireland semi-finals is part of a trend.

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"In Darver, they have one of the most state of the art training facilities, they have serious development and a conveyor belt of players coming through," the current Wicklow manager told BBC Sport NI.

"When I was there with teams over the past 10 years at DkIT [Dundalk Institute of Technology], there were payers from Monaghan, Cavan, Dublin and maybe one or two from Louth on the Sigerson team, but now there are 11 or 12 from Louth, so the development has been there for some time.

"The last part of the jigsaw is the [under construction] stadium and that looks unbelievable, right in the centre of Dundalk which will revolutionise Louth football even further.

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"They are a force to be reckoned with and they may be a surprise package this year, but they are here to stay."

McConville predicts "Louth are going to beat Mayo" with their experience of big games and big wins at Croke Park a major asset, but also the "wave of momentum" built within the county.

"Everyone in the county is behind them and when that's the case, you just have to take the baton and run because it won't always happen," he added.

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"Success brings issues as well as everything else, but this is their time and I think they will win that game."

Clifford expectations through the roof

Kerry will enter Sunday's semi-final against Dublin [16:00] as favourites and while McConville feels "we're looking at a Kerry-Louth All-Ireland final", he is not ruling out any other combination.

While Dublin have found some momentum with big wins over Donegal and Galway, Kerry have also built into the championship after an opening round loss, perhaps coinciding with the return of some key personnel.

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Yet it's the talent of David Clifford that commands most the attention and while the Fossa man continues to light up the scoreboard, McConville feels he is now almost becoming a victim of his own success to a degree.

"When everybody else seems to have dips in form, a crisis of confidence, he just seems to power on through. Even when he is not at his best, he still has a massive influence.

"We spent a few weeks looking at him where he got 1-10 [against Armagh] and 1-8 [against Tyrone] and didn't get man of the match in either.

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"That just shows the standards and expectancy of him. He has to reach ridiculous levels for people to even say he had a good game - that's what people expect of him."

Kerry are far from a one-man band and the form of attacker Dylan Geaney has been one of the reason's why Kerry's quest for back to back All-Ireland titles remains on course.

With eight points in the quarter-final win over Tyrone including a pair of two-pointers, the Dingle man - who tasted All-Ireland club success earlier this year - has "taken a lot of the scoring onus off" in McConville's view.

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"He's not taking the safe shot and looks like a player with massive confidence.

"The run for Dingle winning the All-Ireland gave him a massive amount of confidence and he had a brilliant final with some crucial scores.

"He's brought that into inter-county level which is tough as it's a big jump between top-level club football and top-level inter-county football."

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