Louth boss Mickey Harte was hopeful that his side could absorb the lessons from being “battered” by Dublin.
The 21-point margin represented the biggest that Harte has suffered in his 21 seasons in Championship football in charge of Tyrone and Louth, as a severe reality check was administered after a very progressive three years at the helm.
“We started well, intense first 15 minutes or so, but they stole a march on us until the last five or six minutes of the half, when we performed well again, it was creditable again,” Harte noted.
READ MORE: Dublin cruise to 13-in-a-row in Leinster with rout of Louth
“At the start of second half, we got a few points back and then they sort of took over again. They are just a very good side and we are not at that level just now and we have to play teams like that to learn a lesson.
“It is a harsh lesson for players. It is one thing getting beaten, it is another thing getting battered and that is what happened to us today.
“But sometimes, that happens in football and you have to learn from every outcome. You like when you win things and like when you make comebacks. But Dublin are just a very good team.”
Louth now face into the group stages where they have Cork, Mayo and Kerry for company, with Harte facing an onerous task now to lift morale after this annihilation.
“It all depends on how you deal with it. It could set you back if you choose to let it set you back..
“But if you decide to learn from it and you decide that you start to climb out of that poor place that you’re in right now, then it can be a good thing. So it is what we’ll make it.
“We can make it something that deflates us entirely and you know sends us into a spin or we can say there’s a position that, if you want to try and get there, there’s lots of things to be done.
“So get to work on them. You won’t get there in one step. So if you take it a step at a time… progress can be slow, but as long as it’s forward moving, it doesn’t have to be a rocket.”
Their first tie against Cork the weekend after next would appear to be their most winnable on paper, though they will be nominating Navan’s Pairc Tailteann as their home ground for that particular tie given the lack of a suitable venue within their own county.
Harte added: “I suppose every other team in the group will be saying we’re the winnable game so Cork will be saying we’re the winnable game. That’s understandable.
“We played the in the League of course but they were missing a few players that day and we got a result. So yeah, I suppose it’s not going to be easy.
“Any game we go out to play from here on in is not going to be easy because you’re at the tough end of season now but it’s experience, players will learn from the experience.
“It’s kind of going to be a wee taster for what Division One will be like if you’re ever in it so maybe for a team like Louth to get a taste for that without having to be in it right now mightn’t be a bad thing for their progression.”
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