Flashback: Dublin v Louth, 2012 Leinster SFC

Dublin have played Louth 55 times in Championship action, the most recent being the Dubs 2-22 to 0-12 victory over the Wee County in a 2012 Leinster SFC quarter-final in Croke Park.

They meet again this Saturday evening (7.0) in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise. It is part of a Leinster SFC quarter-final with Meath and Carlow colliding in the curtain-raiser (5.0).

Many of the current Dublin side saw action against Louth in that clash in early June 2012 - Stephen Cluxton, Philly McMahon, Rory O'Carroll, Michael Fitzsimons, James McCarthy, Kevin McManamon and Bernard Brogan all started while Eoghan O'Gara and Jonny Cooper were introduced as subs.

Bernard Brogan finished the day as top-scorer with a personal tally of 2-5 (0-1f).

The Dubs have won 36 of their summer duels with Louth prevailing on 13 occasions, they have drawn six times.

Louth last defeated Dublin in a Championship clash in their Leinster SFC second round replay on June 10, 1973 in Pairc Tailteann, Navan.

The Wee County won 1-8 to 0-9 after the sides have drawn, Dublin 2-6 Louth 1-9, two weeks previously, also in Navan.

Making his Dublin SFC debut, when coming on as a substitute in the replay, was John McCarthy, father of current senior footballer James.

The Dublin side that faced Louth in the replay was: P Cullen; J O'Neill, S Doherty, G O'Driscoll; P Reilly, P O'Neill, R Kelleher; S Rooney (0-1), A Larkin; E Brady (0-1), F Murray (0-1), B Doyle (0-4); D Hickey (0-2), P Markham, G Wilson. Subs: J McCarthy for Markham, P O'Brien for Rooney.

Here we look back on the last Leinster SFC meeting between the counties in June 2012.

2012 LEINSTER SFC QUARTR-FINAL

SUNDAY, JUNE 3: Croke Park

DUBLIN 2-22 LOUTH 0-12

Dublin made a smooth take-off to the defence of their Leinster crown when defeating Louth by 16 points in this Leinster SFC quarter-final in front of an attendance of 31.570.

Dublin could have had more goals but inaccurate finishing and some good saves from Louth goalkeeper Neil Gallagher kept their return down.

Not that it mattered because they also scored 0-11 in each half, accompanied by two first-half goals from Bernard Brogan.

All except 0-3 of Dublin's impressive yield were from play, whereas 0-8 of Louth's total came from placed balls. Midfielder Ronan Carroll, wing-back Ray Finnegan and substitute JP Rooney all kicked points, which meant that Adrian Reid's point in the 54th minute was the only score returned from open play by Louth's starting forward line.

It looked briefly early on as if the Louth attack might raise serious questions but once Adrian Reid missed a goal opportunity in the sixth minute, the dynamic changed dramatically - credit Stephen Cluxton with a good save.

From there on, Dublin took control and while their possession dominance wasn't reflected in their 0-8 to 0-3 advantage after 30 minutes, it was still clear that they were playing to a much faster beat than Louth.

In the run-up to the interval when Dublin scored 2-3 without replay. Dublin's first goal, scored by Bernard Brogan in the 34th minute, summed up Louth's day.

Deep in attack, an attempted shot at goal by Paddy Keenan was charged down, the ball rebounding to Kevin McManamon, who set off on one of his many powerful runs before feeding Alan Brogan. His younger brother had slipped free of his marker, took Alan's pass in his stride and carefully dispatched the ball to the net.

Brogan pounced again in stoppage time, clipping the ball to the Louth net after it broke loose, following two blocks on the line.

The late power surge left Dublin, who had played with the wind, leading by 2-11 to 0-3 at half-time.

Having ensured a 14th successive championship win over Louth, it was inevitable that Dublin's tempo would drop in the second half. They still managed to win it (0-11 to 0-9) but fell into some bad habits which concerned Pat Gilroy.

Dublin conceded 15 frees in the second half (compared to Louth's six), four of which were converted into points by Clarke.

"I wasn't happy with that. It's an area we will have to work on," said Gilroy.

"We weren't under pressure today and yet we conceded quite a lot of easy frees. I don't think our technique was good. We weren't that good at executing simple plays. When we had a guy clogged up, we were lazy and pulled or left the hand in a bit too long."

Ronan Carroll's 45th-minute point was Louth's first from open play in the game, by which stage the defending All-Ireland champions had 2-14 on the board.

Bernard Brogan, back on duty for the first time since the previous year's All-Ireland final, marked his return with a 2-5 yield but had a strong challenger for Man of the Match in Kevin McManamon whose took his busy, bustling style to the four corners of Croke Park.

His willingness to take on opponents is a major plus for Dublin and, coupled with his accurate passing, makes it very difficult for opponents to restrict his influence.

Alan Brogan and Diarmuid Connolly also looked sharp, while Paul Flynn kicked the best point of the day in the 32nd minute, firing over from near the sideline after sweeping onto a misdirected Louth pass.

SCORERS -- Dublin: B Brogan 2-5 (0-1f), D Connolly, K McManamon 0-3 each, S Cluxton (0-2 '45'), A Brogan, C Dias, B Cullen, P Flynn 0-2 each, D Bastick 0-1. Louth: D Clarke 0-8 (0-7f, 0-1 sideline), R Carroll, A Reid, R Finnegan, JP Rooney 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; P McMahon, R O'Carroll, M Fitzsimons; J McCarthy, G Brennan, K Nolan; E Fennell, D Bastick; P Flynn, K McManamon, B Cullen; D Connolly, A Brogan, B Brogan. Subs: C Dias for Cullen (ht), E O'Gara for Flynn (50), R McConnell for Fennell (57), J Cooper for McMahon (57), P Casey for Brennan (65).

LOUTH: N Gallagher; P Rath, D Finnegan, G Hoey; R Finnegan, J Carr, D Byrne; P Keenan, R Carroll; D Crilly, M Brennan, A Reid; D Maguire, J McEneaney, D Clarke. Subs: A McDonnell for McEneaney (ht), R Greene for D Finnegan (ht), L Shevlin for Carr (53), JP Rooney for Brennan (53), D Reid for A Reid (71).

REF: E Kinsella (Laois).