By Damian Lawlor

IT has been an eventful few months for Louth hurling.

Their senior hurlers denied were denied a Division 3A title earlier in the year when they lost out to a late scoring burst from opponents Warwickshire.

In the midst of that NHL campaign the impact of two Clare brothers, Niall and Gerry Arthur, who declared for Louth under the designated county rule was immediate and made national headlines.

Niall managed 2-9 against a fancied Tyrone outfit and over the following games he recorded 0-11, an incredible 4-12 (a NHL scoring record that replaced Christy Ring's previous highest tally), 1-8 and 0-9, bringing his overall tally to 7-49 in just five matches.

In no small way those scores helped the Wee County qualify for an unlikely league final clash with the English-based side.

Hopes were high then that, ahead of the Nicky Rackard Cup, an All-Ireland competition in which the county has endured so much heart-break, this could be Louth hurling's year.

And that players like Shane Callan and Ronan Byrne, among others, who have lost four Rackard Cup finals since 2005, would finally see an end to that heartbreak.

But the GAA subsequently decided to rule those two star players, the Arthur brothers, 'ineligible' for the Rackard campaign. It's no coincidence that Louth have since lost two games in that competition and soon face Leitrim in a relegation play-off to decide whether they will be playing Meagher or Rackard Cup hurling next season.

Still, the die-hards of Louth hurling keep going. Indeed those on the ground are optimistic that good times are only around the corner with a bunch of promising young hurlers coming through.

Mark Stephenson is one of those stalwarts who believes. The Waterford native is manager of the current Louth Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge team that sits near the top of Group F of the series.

Stephenson has been delighted with the effort and commitment of his young Louth players. He says that the young players are enjoying lining out for their county, getting regular games, and testing themselves against teams of a similar status.

"Hurling is very well established in this county, but we are always looking to drive it on further," he says.

"The goal here is that a fella we produce who is a top-class hurler - one that might make many teams in Ireland - can get to stay and play with us at a high level and that our senior team can continue to progress. That is definitely on the wish-list.

"At under-14 we have won six of the last seven All-Ireland third tier competitions and there are young lads here who really want to play hurling for us. But the reality is that Gaelic football teams and soccer teams are looking for them too.

"So we have to do everything we can to keep hurling strong and make it a viable option for those lads. And we are doing that. We lost to Leitrim in the Celtic Challenge this week but we had been three hours on a bus in warm weather en route to that game and that may have been a factor. Yet, there wasn't a whimper of complaint out of the lads and when we fell behind they showed great heart in launching a huge comeback. They have put in a fine innings so far, we are delighted with them and hopefully now we will progress to the latter stages of the competition."

Stephenson himself is one of the key reasons the game is so established in the Wee County.

A teacher at St Joseph's CBS Drogheda, he has a strong background in sport in general and is renowned for his successful association with athletics before becoming heavily involved in promoting hurling. The Kilmeaden native hurled with Wolfe Tones and has been living in the Termonfeckin area since 1985.

He helped start the St Fechins hurling team in mid-1997. They started out with 60 lads on the first night of training and the youngsters of Termonfeckin took to the game instantly.

More coaching was introduced on a yearly basis; more teams were added and a summer camp was established in 1998.

In 2003 Termonfeckin the club fielded an adult hurling team for the first time and also made their bow in the Louth senior hurling championship.

People like him will ensure that there are further good times ahead for the county.

Follow our match tracker this weekend for a feast of action in both the football and hurling championships with live coverage from 15 games across both codes.

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