ANYONE who has taken a heavy blow to the solar plexus will know the length of time it takes to recover. Unfortunately, the lapse of time between Louth taking the blow of losing the Leinster final in such agonising fashion wasn't of sufficient duration to allow them mount a creditable challenge to Dublin in Saturday's qualifier.

While the thirteen days between games may have allowed the players' bodies recover, their minds were clearly stuck in the time warp of the dying seconds of the Leinster final and the national debate that ensued over the legitimacy of Meath's win.

This was very evident in the first twenty minutes of Saturday's match and hindered Louth from getting the fast start they needed to banish the natural instincts of feeling cheated by events.

They needed the start that Dublin got to play themselves into the game, but unfortunately they were neither physically or mentally up to the challenge and it was only when Dublin took their foot off the pedal and introduced a host of substitutes that Louth were able to put some scores on the board.

Credit must be given to the Louth players for digging deep to find the last ounces of resolve that sustained them throughout the summer in games against Longford, Kildare, Westmeath and Meath and saw them win games that previous Louth teams would have coughed up.

The players fully deserved the standing ovation that they got from the ever increasing army of followers and many neutrals at the end of Saturday's game, for they have brightened our summer immeasurably.

The tragedy for the GAA is that Louth's involvement in this year's championship has ended, for the county's supporters added a new vigour and much colour to the summer, not to mention a considerable injection of revenue to the Association, for there are few teams in the country who could muster the support that Louth got in their last three outings in Croke Park.

The presence too of a new face outside of the predictable few in the concluding stages of the championship would have given new vitality and new hope to others, and had the powers that be shown the courage to do the right thing and awarded Louth the Leinster final that they won, they would have given the game a major boost in the so called weaker counties.

Naturally Louth fans leaving Croke Park on Saturday were disappointed that the great odyssey of 2010 summer was over, but few except one or two churlish people who shouted abuse at the manager about the presence of his son on the field, apportioned blame to the players or the management, for they realised that it would have taken men of prodigious mental strength to overcome the disappointment they encountered to find a performance that would have beaten Dublin.

Louth, we must accept, punched above their weight this summer, and much of the credit for that must go to their manager Peter Fizpatrick, for not alone did he show exceptional motivating qualities, but perhaps more importantly, a quality of dignified leadership that is not always present in sport nowadays or indeed in many other aspects of life.

- Kevin MULLIGAN