Devlin urges Louth 'not to drop their shoulders'

Louth manager Gavin Devlin said he told his players not to "drop their shoulders" after their 17-point All-Ireland SFC semi-final defeat by Mayo.

The Wee County had enjoyed a magical 2026, reaching the last four for the first time since 1957 and while they were still in the game at half-time when four down, the alarm bells had been ringing.

Mayo completely took over after the break and while it was a disappointing way to end their year, Devlin feels their journey has acted as a huge lift for the county.

"This journey we have been on has been magical," he said.

"The scenes the last two weeks in Louth, sometimes it's just bigger than the team for what our young people experience and the clubs.

"The performance today was disappointing and result bitterly disappointing. It just seemed one of those games where what could go wrong went wrong.

"I told them it's a day that's disappointing, but not one to drop your shoulders so keep them up."

Craig Lennon's withdrawal through injury in the first half was a major blow for Louth as Devlin explained it changed their plans in terms of substitutions, but their defeat was based on so much more.

Mayo won the scraps, forced turnovers and had the flair in attack and while Devlin feels his team are "better than" what they produced on the day, there is still "a level or two to go" of they are to take the next step.

"There was a gap today, physically and speed-wise," he admitted.

"When we were coming out with the ball, we were getting turned back whereas as in other games we could break lines. We've got to close that gap."

The three goals they conceded were perhaps all preventable, stemming from turnovers or not securing possession.

Darragh Beirne was presented with an early opportunity that was saved by Niall McDonnell but Mayo's opening goal through Ryan O'Donoghue followed shortly after and for Devlin, presenting those opportunities was always going to end badly.

"We were always defending when scrambling, which is no way to defend when you're chasing back to your own goal," he continued.

"You have to prepare to scramble, but it seemed every time we defend it was a scramble after a turnover, but give Mayo credit as their defence was immense."