Down Ladies hopeful of picking up important result away from home against Louth

Down Ladies have gotten off to a shaky start in their Division 3 league campaign, with one win from three games played and a visit to Louth on Sunday where they will really hope to pick up a win.

Despite scoring four goals against Laois in Pairc Esler last match, the Mourne ladies, under new manager Colm Donnelly who took the role after Peter Lynch and Caoibhe Sloan stepped down at the end of last season, only notched up three points and shipped 2-11.

It was a topsy turvy game whereby Laois hit the net twice early in the first half but Down responded with three of their own to lead 3-2 to 2-3 at the break. A fourth goal followed early in the second half but Laois dominated after that scoring eight points with the home side running only able to conjure up one more to lose by two in the end.

Before that Vivienne McCormack scored Down’s only goal when they lost 3-15 to 1-8 to Cavan after a promising start in the first round when they travelled to Limerick and came home 0-14 to 2-6 winners.

Again in that game however, Limerick scored an early goal and Down were left playing catch-up but they managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over with points to claim the win.

For Louth it’s been a better campaign thus far. They beat Wexford by a goal 1-6 to 0-6 in their third round fixture. Before that they had a massive 6-5 to 1-10 win over Laois after a narrow 2-8 to 2-10 defeat to Carlow in their opening fixture.

It’s clear from those results – nine goals from three games – that Down will really need to tighten up at the back.

The last time Down and Louth played in the league last season, Down were comfortable 4-12 to 2-6 winners.

Louth struggled last season with only two wins and a draw from their seven games played, while Down were unfortunate to miss out on promotion and went on to have great success in the Intermediate Championship.

There was a lot of disruption within Louth LGFA last year before Kevin Larkin replaced Paul Hanlon and his management team, who were removed in November 2024 after a vote by Louth clubs.

At the time the players voted to remove the management team after a dispute over the team's narrow loss to Fermanagh in the All-Ireland Junior Championship final in August 2024.

The players raised concerns about the management and indicated they would not participate in the upcoming season unless the management team was replaced.

The dust has settled on that dispute now however and under Larkin Louth seem to have found their footing in the league.

Down, captained by Rostrevor’s Clara Mulvenna this year, have a lot of new young talent in the panel but are also feeling the loss of some players who are not available. Orla Duffy has left the panel to travel to Australia as has Ciara Byrne and Amy McGivern is out injured.

There is still a good mixture of experience and youth on the side however including Meaghan Doherty, Laoise Duffy, Vivienne McCormack and Niamh King, who will aim to rally the troops for the Louth game where Down will be doing their best to get a result.