"We're not hitting the panic button or anything, but, the performances need to be better.' – Louth ladies boss Kevin Larkin after his side almost blow a 13-point lead against Carlow

Irish Independent

05-05-2025

It shouldn't have been so difficult for Louth who were in a real winning position but for whatever reason it almost slipped away. Something was disappointed team manager Kevin Larkin.
'Yeah, it's two weeks-in a-row now we're not happy with our performance but I suppose we're getting the results,' he said after the game.
'At half-time we came out and we had the girls riled up to try and do what we did in the in the first half but we just let Carlow back into it with sloppy play and maybe the work-rate dipped a bit.
'But in fairness to Carlow, they played really well and they were 100pc up for the game and take nothing away from them. They were brilliant but definitely there's stuff we can work on going forward anyway.'
In the first half, everything appeared to be going according to plan. Playing into the wind Louth scored four goals and looked to be well in control at half-time turning around with the breeze in your backs.
'I suppose the Cavan game we played here as well, I think we were three points up at half-time, and we had the wind in the second half as well. It just goes to show, you can't really depend on the wind to win you a game,' Larkin said.
'But look, we'll go back to the drawing board on Wednesday. We're through to a Leinster final now. So we'll reassess the training, we know where we can improve.'
A big plus
One of the big plusses for Louth was the performance and finishing Mischa Rooney, with the Hunterstown Rovers player accounting for 3-1. Larkin, naturally was full of praise for the wing forward.
'Mischa is a fantastic player. She's so young as well…she's doing her Leaving Cert,' the Louth boss said.
'She's brilliant and she hasn't got many minutes and that's what I love about her. She came in and took her chance and she's given us a real headache because I don't think she missed, like she was excellent.
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'But that's the type of panel that we have. When girls get their chance, they need to take it and in fairness to Mischa she was absolutely brilliant. But even the build-up to those goals was something that was really positive but we just didn't do it in the second half.
'The final ball was spilling, fist passes to the feet and things like that. But look, it's not worrying, it's stuff we can clear up in training and we just have to work on that going forward.'
Both sides on Sunday shook up their teams making numerous changes before the game from the teams listed in the programme with Carlow making five and Louth seven. Larkin was asked was that much of a risk to take?
'No absolutely not, we believe in our panel and you need a panel to win,' he said.
'I don't know if any team has won anything with 15 players and we had said at the start of the year that girls who didn't get much game time [in the league] were going to get game time in Leinster and in fairness it's the girls who are coming in are the ones who were playing really well.
'But it's the strength of our panel and it's something that we really focus on. Like I said, we're happy to get the win today but the performance just wasn't good enough in the second half.'
'Not hitting the panic button'
Louth left it late the previous weekend against Longford with captain Áine Breen's coming to the rescue with late scores to secure the win. Obviously Louth would have looked at that situation and would have been anxious to avoid a similar scenario, so was it the case now of Larkin and his management team trying to redress any identified issues with one more group game to go and a final assured against Carlow or Longford.
'That's it. It's not panic stations or anything like that. It's all stuff that we can work on, like, cleaning up the fist pass and then just our general play,' said Larkin.
'We're not hitting the panic button or anything, but the performances need to be better.
'In the second half against Longford, we were excellent. Longford didn't score from play in the second half, and in the first half today, we were absolutely fantastic. So, it is just one of those things, we know what we can do, we just need to put it together for 60 minutes and get a result."
Larkin was asked how much of surrendering such a strong lead was human nature? Psychologically Louth were 13 points up, had scored five goals, does it perhaps get inside players' heads that they've done enough to win and the opposition are beaten long before the final whistle?
'It was just a bit of a dip. Maybe players aren't going 100pc for balls that they were in the first half, Like you said, when the game was level or closer, you get punished.' he replied.
'Carlow are a good team and the same with Longford. They are an excellent team as well and you can't take these things for granted. You just have to win every ball and put that 60-minute performance in, which we haven't done yet.
'But like I said, we'll tidy it up in training and we'll work on it. I suppose the good thing is when we look back, we did get the two results and we feel like we haven't played as well as we could do or played as well as we did in the league so we know we have plenty to work on but we're in a good position all the same.'
'Work on our basics'
In terms of where Louth are overall in the season, narrowly missing out on league promotion and now you're into a Leinster final, in the overall scheme of things was Larkin happy where Louth are at at the minute?
'Yeah absolutely but look, we have high standards on this team and when we don't meet them we put in performances like we did in the second half today…and the girls know that,' said the Louth manager.
'They know themselves. I don't have to tell them that that's not good enough. They know themselves that that second half performance wasn't good enough.
'But Like I said, we'll go back to training. We've a bit of time now. So we'll get back in the training ground and just work on our basics because like I said, we've put in two good first half performances and one good second half performance. So we know the performance is there. We just need to sustain it for 60 minutes.'
'Delighted for everybody in Louth'
A Kildare man, Larkin can't but have noticed all the talk around Louth football teams, how well they're going at present – had he spotted a little bit of a spring in the steps of his players during training as it seems the whole county is feeling it at the minute?
'Oh absolutely. I know Ger [Brennan], he's a lovely fella and he's done a fantastic job. He's a real honest man and he just works so hard and that's reflected in the team and even the U20s winning, it's brilliant,' Larkin said.
'A bit of success gets the whole county going and I said it to our players, we're just as big of a part of that. They're the ones that need to spring on ladies football.
'It's just great to be a part of, but look, I'm sure the senior men and us, there's no trophies won yet, so it's great getting to these finals and things like that, but you need to get over the line and win them.
'But fair play. I'm delighted for Ger and delighted for everybody in Louth. It's all positive but we need to start winning trophies now.'