Louth v Kildare: The fight for the last All-Ireland spot - and a Leinster final ticket

The 42

27-04-2025

A LEINSTER FINAL ticket is not the only prize in Tullamore this afternoon. The winners also get the last remaining place in the 2025 All-Ireland senior football championship.
When the final whistle sounds at Glenisk O'Connor Park, one of Louth or Kildare will join the race for the Sam Maguire. The other will drop to the Tailteann Cup.
This Leinster semi-final meeting is a repeat of last year's, which Louth won, 0-17 to 0-13, at Croke Park.
The same implications applied: the Wee county's progression to a second successive provincial final saw them join the 16-team All-Ireland series, Kildare moved into the Tailteann Cup for the first time.
The trajectory of their 2025 championship seasons now hinge on one game.
Players from both counties shared contrasting views at the Leinster championship launch in Newbridge a few weeks back.
While Louth's Tommy Durnin stressed the importance of staying in the All-Ireland series, Kevin Feely thinks Kildare spending another year at Tailteann level 'wouldn't be the end of the world'.
'To say that it's essential for us to be in an All-Ireland series when we know how competitive this Leinster campaign is going to be is probably going a little bit too far,' said Feely.
'It could well be that we end up in the Tailteann Cup and if we do, we just have to make sure that we bring our best performance to that as well. Obviously our ambition is to try and be in an All-Ireland series, but in terms of our development and progression from last year, it wouldn't be the end of the world if we do end up in a Tailteann Cup.
Advertisement
'But certainly the main ambition is to win every game and try and get into an All-Ireland series.'
Perhaps Feely was tempering expectations, but Durnin took the opposite approach.
Leinster glory is 'the ultimate goal' for Louth, he said, and 2025 is 'probably the best chance you'd ever have had in years, in terms of set-up and everything' as they look to end Dublin's remarkable dominance.
Delaney Cup dream aside, Durnin believes dropping to the second-tier Tailteann would be a setback for Louth.
Middle two, back row: Tommy Durnin and Kevin Feely at the Leinster championship launch last month. Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE
'No disrespect but we want to be developing every year, we want to go further and further. We want to be in the All-Ireland series. We want to be playing the bigger teams.
'Last year we had the likes of Kerry and Dublin and Cork as well, they're massive games and they bring you on more than in the Tailteann Cup. For us as a county, you want to be in the All-Ireland series.'
Are these differing mindsets a reflection on where the counties are at currently?
Louth are targetting a third successive Leinster final appearance. The last time they achieved this feat was 1912-14, while they contested just one decider (2010) between 1960 and 2022. Their last provincial triumph was in 1958.
Their rise under Mickey Harte has been well documented; the league ranks also climbed from Division 4 to Division 2 after back-to-back promotions.
Ger Brennan is in his second season at the helm, and has continued that progression. Albeit narrowly, they have maintained their Division 2 status twice, while last year's Leinster semi-final win over Kildare was a standout result before an improved showing against Brennan's native Dublin in the final.
The U20s beat the Dubs this week in their Leinster semi, and the senior side will feel they are getting closer and closer to that breakthrough. As a county overall, they are on the up.
Kildare, meanwhile, are trickier to assess. It is widely felt that they have unfulfilled potential and promise recently, and throughout history. Underachievement is a word long associated with the Lilywhites, with underage success failing to translate.
They haven't won a Leinster title since 2000 — bar 1998, it was 1956 before that. This decade, they contested finals in 2021 and 2022, but were dismantled by Dublin.
Last year's Tailteann Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of Laois was a huge disappointment, with Glenn Ryan's challenging reign coming to an end thereafter.
Kildare are in a new era now, with Brian Flanagan in year one of his tenure. While they lost the Division 3 final to Offaly, they achieved their main objective in league promotion, and the internal hope is they can push on.
'We were at best a quarter-final team in the Tailteann Cup off the back of last year, which kind of tells its own story in terms of where we were starting off,' as Feely said. 'But with our new management team in, with a big squad change, this hopefully is the beginning of a journey of moving upwards.'
Kevin Feely is a key player for Kildare. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
All-Ireland v Tailteann Cup thoughts aside, some of the caveats that come with Sam Maguire status would be huge for Kildare.
Today's winners will be 1st or 2nd seeds, and have a home fixture in the All-Ireland series on the weekend of 24-25 May.
A big game in the redeveloped Cedral St Conleth's Park would be a real shot in the arm.
This afternoon, the venues are neutral, with Leinster GAA making the decision to move the semi-finals out of Croke Park for the first time in 30 years.
Related Reads
The Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup state of play ahead of key Kildare-Louth game
6 talking points after the weekend's Leinster and Ulster senior football action
Chairman Derek Kent cited the bid to boost atmosphere, and insisted 'it's not about levelling the playing field' as Dublin chase their 15th Leinster title in a row.
Dessie Farrell's side face Meath in Portlaoise, with the Royals, Louth and Kildare all looking to knock them off their pedestal and end the Dublin dominance.
Perhaps Tommy Durnin said it best: 'Dublin are still kings, but there are a lot of hungry teams out there that are pushing and want to strive for better.'
Eyes on the prize in Tullamore first.
Leinster SFC semi-finals
Sunday 27 April
Kildare v Louth, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 2pm, GAA+
Dublin v Meath, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 4pm, GAA+
Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here