Kelly quietly confident ahead of NHL start
NHL PREVIEW
Wednesday February 17 2010
LOUTH hurling boss Paddy Kelly has already seen enough from his new charges to convince him that the Reds can put it up to the best in 2010 as he prepares to make his National League bow against Sligo on Sunday afternoon (Clan na Gael, 2.30pm).
While admitting that a few teams in the Nicky Rackard Cup - such as London, Wicklow and Roscommon - are probably still a bit ahead of the posse, he believes Louth can be competitive this season, starting with Sunday's visit of the Yeats County.
'I think we can be competitive in this particular division,' he insisted. 'How we perform in the league will dictate how we fare in the Nicky Rackard Cup, so it's important that we get off to a good start.
'We don't know what Sligo will be like. I know they beat Louth Nicky Rackard final two years ago, so they will be strong, but whether they'll still be at that level we'll just have to wait and see.'
Despite suffering successive defeats in his first two competitive outings, Kelly was nonetheless encouraged by his side's performances in both games.
'Trinity beat us with a good side and we played well against Kildare even though they won it by seven in the end - but they beat us by 25 points last season, so we were happy with that performance.'
On top of those Kehoe Cup outings the Reds have also had run-outs against Raheny (Dublin), Westmeath and South Down, which Kelly used to assess his panel.
'We stuck mainly to the same 15 or 17 players in the first two games so we used the challenges to have a look at a few more lads and it was a useful exercise.
'The games will come thick and fast now in the league so you need players to be ready to step in and fill a gap if needs be.'
With home games against the stronger teams in the division - Roscommon, Fingal and Wicklow - Kelly feels Louth can more than hold their own in Division 3B and maybe even cause an upset or two.
' We want to pick up some momentum on Sunday, that will be the key to having a good run in the league.'
Looking further ahead, Kelly concedes that the Nicky Rackard again looks like a tough proposition.
'Meath won it last year, beating London, who might be even stronger this year with emigration increasing again. For that reason they'll be a bit of an unknown again, but there are good teams there who we know a bit about too like Armagh, Roscommon and Sligo.'
With a few young players starting to make their mark, and some old faces still going strong, Kelly is confident his team can perform well and he is also delighted to be able to call on the services of a few 'outsiders'.
'Derek Horan has joined us this year and we have Wesley Morrissey and Donnacha O'Sullivan from last season. Those lads from traditional hurling counties can only help Louth hurling and if there are any more guys out there who would like to try their hand with us but still play with their own club team, we're willing to have a look.'
- John SAVAGE
