Divided loyalties but no hostilities ahead of Saturday's crunch match

All the great battles of history - the Spanish-American war, Waterloo, Trafalgar, the Ottoman-Habsburg war, the French-Indian war, the Siege of Orleans - fade into insignificance beside that of Louth and Meath. Do I exaggerate? Not a bit. When it comes to writing history, the 100 Years War will look like a mere skirmish when compared to the hostilities between the green and gold and the red and whites. They say good fences make good neighbours but the paling posts between these two counties have been scattered on a metaphorical bonfire a long time ago and it doesn't look like they will be re-erected any time soon. This weekend's clash in Cavan between the two counties will naturally revive memories of last year's Leinster Final, which ended in fierce controversy about THAT goal in the closing stages at Croke Park. When Peter Fitzpatrick, former Louth player and now team manager, said that the Croke Park outing was "the biggest thing that has happened to Louth in the last 50 years", he didn't know how prophetic he was. As this weekend's match approaches, how do people cope in households that have split loyalties? Take Fergus and Emma Barnett, for instance. Fergus has royal blood in his veins, having been reared in Donore and played with the village's St Mary's GFC team. His wife, Emma, on the other hand, is a Healy from Tullyallen, just across the Boyne from Donore. In fact, if you took the shortest route from Donore to Tullyallen, you might very well travel through the Battle of the Boyne site, another event not to be forgotten when it comes to long memories. There's a twist to this story. Fergus is so well settled in Louth that he now plays for a Tullyallen team. However, he stuck to his roots in Croke Park last year. "I got an awful doing (verbally). I was among about 3,000 Louth supporters. But we got a result," he said. However, these Louth-Meath matches are marked by a complete absence of hostility in the Barnett household. "We put up the Meath and Louth flags on the roof of the house," he said. "There's a bit of banter around, alright, but nothing serious." However, their 15-month-old daughter, Katie, hasn't made up her mind as to where her loyalties lie. "She wears red and white for some matches, and green and gold for other matches," her dad said. Gerry Whelan is the son of a former Drogheda Corporation councillor, James Whelan, and a dyed in the wool Louthman. "I'll be there on Saturday," he said. "Anywhere that Louth bus is going, I'll be on it." However, his wife, Maura, is from Drumconrath and is sticking to Meath. Who will win Saturday's game? "I'm afraid to answer that one," said Gerry. "But I know one thing - Meath will be playing the Leinster champions! The Great Train Robbery wouldn't be in it with last year's result!"