Dublin secured a 14th consecutive Leinster SFC title at Croke Park on Sunday, but Louth boss Ger Brennan can take massive encouragement from the performance his charges delivered against his native county.
Louth led by 0-07 to 0-06 at the break despite playing against the wind, but an improved second-half display from the Metropolitans saw them eventually prevail by 1-19 to 2-12, with Con O'Callaghan's 55th-minute goal steadying the nerves of the home fans.
"You know, there are a lot of positives also to be taken from the game. The boys inside, they're certainly proud of their performance, as we are as part of the management.
"There are some obvious areas of improvement, in terms of just being much more clinical when we're in possession.
"The top teams punish you, which Dublin did, and credit to them, particularly in that second half once they got the ball in hand.
"They were much more economical in front of goal, but I’m very proud of the lads.
"That third quarter, I think it finished 1-04 to 0-06 points to Dublin.
"So we managed to kind of claw ourselves back into it, but Dublin were getting their scores that bit easier as the game progressed."
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Louth’s two goals on the afternoon came via Ciarán Keenan and Craig Lennon, and their goal threat was a hallmark of a manager who subscribes to the philosophy that attack is the best form of defence.
"There are a lot of very natural footballers in Louth," Brennan added. "We’re trying to get the lads to express themselves in that attacking third and to show their skillset.
"If it comes off, great. If it doesn't, at least the ball's up there and we've enough time to get our defence set up."
Sam Mulroy and Conor Grimes contributed a 10-point haul to the Louth tally, with their manager hailing their influence and saying of the pair, "They’re two great lads and two great stalwarts of Louth GAA over the last number of years and they really set an example."
Wee County focus now recalibrates and shifts to the round-robin series, where Kerry, Monaghan and Meath lie in wait.
Looking ahead to their first encounter, Brennan said: "We said today's game was just a one-off. We were going to have a home match against Roscommon or Meath.
"It's going to be Meath now, which will be a nice local derby.
"So looking forward to that now in two weeks' time. But look, it's about not getting overly disappointed or overly excited."
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