Niall Sharkey of Louth in action against Micheal Brannigan of Monaghan during the All-Ireland SFC Round 2 in Clones last week. Photo: Philip Fitzpatrick/Sportsfile
Sometimes, even in the welter of an inter-county season hitting its peak and a county team pushing through barriers it hasn’t pushed through in modern times, the penny drops that there are lives to be led outside the white lines.
Louth have already progressed to the All-Ireland SFC play-offs. If scores are kept in check in Portlaoise, where they meet Kerry and at Kingspan Breffni where Monaghan play Meath (the other teams in Group 4), Louth will have a home preliminary quarter-final. Who knows? Maybe they’ll even do the unthinkable and advance straight to an All-Ireland quarter-final!
