Louth geared up for the challenge

Reaction to round two of the All-Ireland football qualifiers has, like the draw itself, followed a great divide - either love and happiness, or fear and loathing.

None of the eight pairings can be deemed blonde on blonde. The motif is found in the meeting of Louth and Galway, set for Parnell Park, Dublin, on Saturday.

Louth manager Val Andrews yesterday recalled his reaction to the draw: "I'll never forget it," he said. "It's like being asked where you were when John Kennedy was shot."

Although Louth and Galway have never previously met in the championship, the guidebook suggests one outcome only - even allowing for Galway's second-half collapse against Mayo last Sunday. On league form Galway are still the second best team in the country, whereas Louth are the second worst. They managed one league win over Waterford, and after their Leinster defeat to Wexford, only just sneaked past Antrim in the qualifiers.

Andrews, however, rejects the suggestion the draw would have been better off seeded: "Well I don't think so. I mean Louth welcome the challenge. It gives us the opportunity to measure ourselves against one of the top teams, find out where we stand, and just how big the gap is between the teams. And playing Galway means playing the best. And that's why you play football and train so hard.

"But it is more or less the top six against the bottom six. Or in our case the top of Division One against the bottom of Division Two. And it's just a pity we're not playing at home."

With the capacity at Drogheda not suitable for the fixture, Parnell Park was the next best option, a venue Andrews will know well from his work with various Dublin sides. Not that he expects that to give his team any real advantage. He watched Galway play Mayo last Sunday and knows they're unlikely to be as poor again.

"Oh I saw it alright. And I've seen it a few times since. Of course it's a big ask for our lads. But it's a once off for them too. And the one positive for us is that it's only six days after their loss to Mayo, which is bound to have an effect on them.

"They have had some other setbacks during the league, like against Wexford. Unfortunately for me I haven't seen them do it two weeks in a row."

While Galway are also team that might just be coming to the end of their cycle, Louth are quite definitely at the other end of the run. Nine of the team are in their first senior championship season - the goalkeeper, five backs, midfield, and one forward.

Andrews believes they can improve further on Saturday. The likes of Mark Stanfield and JP Rooney are still a few weeks short of full fitness, and others like Derek Shevlin are coming back from a long lay-off. Ollie McDonnell is also a slight injury concern ahead of Saturday.

"It's real David versus Goliath stuff," adds Andrews. "You guys anyway should get all these predictions right. If you can't get eight out of eight here there is something not right. But it would nice to get the Louth one wrong."

The round-one qualifier matches were thought to be straightforward, but proving the exception there was Clare's victory over Sligo, who had so narrowly fallen to Roscommon in the Connacht championship. Clare were drawn against even more daunting opposition - their old Munster tormentors, Cork.

"It's another very tough draw for us," admitted manager John Kennedy. "We know Cork didn't play so well against Kerry. But they were without four of their regulars, who would start with any team in the country. So they are going to be a huge test for us."

Clare, however, did give Kerry a decent game before playing Sligo. Kennedy is happy with the form of his own team and is looking forward to the challenge.

"If we had been drawn against say another Division Two team, it would have been hard to get very excited. Against a much bigger team like Cork there is an extra incentive, in that it is a rare chance to prove yourself against the best. And, by the very nature of a draw like this, they are the ones under all the pressure. There's no pressure at all on us.

"And that's part of the intrigue of the qualifiers, having the big teams coming down a level, and seeing how well the likes of us can perform against them. There is bound to be some surprises every now and then."