23-04-2025
Breen not underestimating the challenges Louth face going into Leinster Championship
It has been a few weeks since the end of what was a solid league campaign under new manager Kevin Larkin where Louth finished third and missed out by just a point on promotion only losing to Cavan, and disappointingly, Down.
'It was definitely a positive league campaign when you look at it,' said the Louth captain.
'We lost to Cavan and Down only by two points when you compare to last year; we lost to Down by 12 points and we were a point off relegation and this year a point off promotion,'
'So you have to take the positives with that and you to know as well that if you slip up in a game midway through, you know that it's going to be detrimental and taking that into the championship is important I think as well.'
Management
Having interviewed the Louth manager a number of times, you can't but be struck by Kevin Larkin's sheer natural enthusiasm and his desire for success and that's something, along with a structured and positive approach, is benefitting the Louth players.
'I think between Kevin, David Murray and Jack Mac Namee, the three of them are absolutely 100pc every single training session,' said Breen.
'They're so positive and they're so constructive in terms of everything has a purpose in regards to training. They've set out a game plan at the start of the year. We've stuck to that week-on-week.
'I think when you have that structure and you have that plan it's very easy to follow and very easy to stick to and yeah definitely, Kevin has brought in a lot of, as you say, enthusiasm with the team and I think everyone feels very positive and happy to play for him.'
And, as Breen acknowledges, Larkin hasn't been afraid to bring in new players and try others out in positions that they traditionally would not have played.
'Yeah, definitely. You spoke earlier about maybe other people getting on to the league team, and Ceire Nolan played absolutely fantastic in all of the games and she was probably out of position compared to previous years, like wing back, and then she was kind of playing like a third midfielder role and was absolutely fantastic,' Breen said.
'So there are a few changes and then obviously with new girls coming in…like you have Laura Sweeney there who's absolutely brilliant.
'She's still in the minor panel but she's an absolutely fantastic player and then you have Mischa Rooney and Lucy [White] as well so all those young girls will be leading the way in a couple of years.'
Leinster Championship
The momentum, that Louth carried through the league, takes them nicely into the Leinster Championship where they begin this weekend away to Longford and follow that up with games against Kilkenny and Carlow.
On league standings, with Longford and Kilkenny in Division 4 and Carlow relegated from the third division, Louth will go into the championship as favourites.
Carlow were perhaps the surprise in the league considering Bennekerry/Tinryland won the All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship at the end of last year. More was expected of Carlow and they may just see the Leinster championship as a way to redeem themselves – something Louth have to be wary of.
'Carlow beat us last year in the first round and I know we probably beat them well in the league, but they have been missing a lot of players, a lot of players stepped away from them,' said the Louth captain.
'So you have no idea what kind of team will come out in Leinster and for the championship as well. So I don't think you can ever underestimate any team and as you rightly said, they have the experience with Bennekerry/Tinryland. A lot of those girls I think stepped away so if they were to return to the panel it will be a completely different team, so they probably will be the main competitors there.'
As Breen agreed, it would be somewhat disrespectful to discount Longford and Kilkenny because Louth are there to be taken down and they can't afford to take their eye off the ball, that's when they'd get caught out.
'Absolutely. You look at Division 4 where Longford and Kilkenny are playing and you have teams like Leitrim who didn't even get out of promotion and you have Antrim and Fermanagh who are absolutely fantastic teams as well so you can't underestimate Longford or Kilkenny,' she said.
'They want it just as much as we do so definitely not, and we have Longford away in the first round and it's always hard to play a team away first, especially when we haven't played them in a while.'
