Bevan Duffy reflects on Louth's journey to semi-final

Michael Bolton

Former Louth footballer Bevan Duffy has enjoyed being part of the journey, which has seen the county in the All-Ireland semi-finals on Saturday against Mayo.

From moving up the Divisions to winning a Leinster title, Louth have become a force to be reckoned with across the country, with Duffy enjoying a 13-year career with his county.

Made all the more impressive is that this was done across different managers. Under Mickey Harte, Louth became competitive within Leinster and moved up divisions.

Ger Brennan won Louth a Leinster title last season, while Gavin Devlin has Louth within touching distance of an All-Ireland final.

Duffy has enjoyed the transition from player to fan, sharing moments with his daughter following Louth's journey.

"The journey has been great this year", said Duffy.

"From my point of view, I have really enjoyed going to the games with my six-year-old daughter.

"In the Monaghan match, I had her on my knee, and that evening my wife asked what her favourite part of the day was, and she said Dad squeezing me at the end of the match.

"I've been enjoying being a fan and rolling behind the team, I have a love for that group."

After not building on last year's Leinster victory, Louth were determined to make their mark in the championship.

After a Leinster semi-final defeat to Dublin, they took their shot at revenge in the first round of the championship in Croke Park.

The big scalps continued, as a last-second goal saw the Wee County defeat Armagh, while they had to overcome Monaghan with 14 men in the quarter-finals.

A team that has been in low places before, Duffy praised the spirit of overcoming obstacles through the season.

"The loss against Dublin in the semi-final was massive.

"It would have been something the group would have been aware of, beating a Division One team, a scalp would have been a big thing, and they would have taken huge confidence from that," he said.

"Against Armagh, who would have been a lot of people's fancied for an All-Ireland, to beat them it would have given them massive confidence going into the quarter-final.

"We lose a man after four or five minutes, but that group in dark places before, that is where they would have rolled in behind each other.

"Work rate is never going to be a question with that group, desire will never be a question, they just went at it and they weren't letting that slip."

A game where young forwards and the two goalkeepers will be crucial to the outcome, Duffy is predicting Louth will overcome Mayo in a battle that will go right to the wire.

“I think the two keepers, it’ll be interesting to see their impact.

“Two great shot-stoppers. Livingstone, I've only seen a little bit of it, but I obviously know Niall McDonnell; he's a club-mate of mine, and I've known him a long time.

“He's an outstanding shot-stopper and his kick-outs have been brilliant. He's got all the kicks and has great options out in the midfield. You can't just look at kick-outs as the responsibility of the goalkeeper; it's a team thing. That's going to be a key battle; the midfield battle is going to be huge.

“You've got the bench impact which Louth have been really strong on. Casey (Ciaran Byrne) coming off the bench, has been brilliant. He's an outstanding athlete and he loves the occasion. The bigger occasion, he revels in it.

“I'm confident in the group, I think we match up quite well against Mayo. If they perform, they can win, but I think it's going to be a draw after normal time and then we’re going to do it in extra time.”