Sacred Heart above the desk. A little heater to expel the sharp draught that sometimes runs through Scoil Mhuire na mBuachailli.

A window overlooking the trees and graveyard of Castleblayney.

In his principal's room, with the yelps of lunchtime ringing through the corridors, Eamonn McEneaney unravels the story of Louth's league to date. The late exploits against Cavan, the increased confidence versus Antrim, the first long trip to Semple Stadium and victory over Wicklow and Sligo wedged in between.

Along with Mayo, Louth are the only side yet to drop league points and with two games remaining promotion seems likely. It's a significant start, a springboard for the remainder of the season but still, nobody in the county is getting carried away, least of all the manager.

"We realise this is Division 2B football we're talking about", he says. As he dissects the year's opening games he speaks often of the concept of belief and how it has increasingly seeped into his team. Aside from the prospect of promotion, he says, a renewed sense of conviction has been this year's real bounty.

It's a notion McEneaney is familiar with himself. Just over 20 years have passed since he defied the odds and kicked that late and divine point to draw an All Ireland semi-final against Kerry. It was conviction that carried the ball 48 metres through the Canal goalposts and just for a second his native Monaghan must have felt like they had climbed Everest. "There was belief back then, as well, " he adds. "Sure, football is all about having belief."

He retired as Monaghan's all-time championship top scorer and in 1996 accepted the position of manager of his county, which he held for three years. He has never strayed too far from the game and when the Louth job was vacated last year, the mud and grime of football was still beneath his fingernails. He was managing the seniors of Trim and was also involved with an underage development squad in Louth.

"At first I had no intention of taking the position, " he explains. "Trim were preparing for a championship semifinal and to be honest I wasn't thinking beyond that. When I was approached by Louth I was delighted to consider the job but I felt that certain things had to change and I didn't know if the will was there to change them."

McEneaney has lived in Blackrock, a coastal village just south of Dundalk, since 1990 and for the past 16 years had cast a careful eye over Louth football. He saw decent players come and go, decent managers likewise. From his work with the development squads he realised Louth had a talented pool of youngsters and reckoned what was required was a long-term plan.

So he asked the board for a five-year contract. In a county where three managers came and went over the course of a similar period, McEneaney's request was a public statement of intent.

The county board reciprocated his commitment and other conditions were also met. He appointed a coaching administrator to ensure that kids who played football were being catered for from an early age, like those playing rugby and soccer. He created the position of Liaison Officer, a role filled by John Pepper who now organises the weekly running of the team. Overall, he was ensuring Louth were functioning on a similar plane to other counties.

"We have to operate under certain disadvantages in Louth so it's important to improve football as an entity throughout the county", he says. The seniors of Louth have no regular training base and the manager reckons they must have trained on 14 or 15 different club fields since he took charge in late November. It was only this year that a sponsor was found to provide a van to cart training equipment from location to location. "Before, the gear was stuffed into the back of three or four cars and if one fellow couldn't make training we were short gear. It was a crazy situation because you have to make sure the players are facilitated as best as possible".

If his own playing days are remembered by most for that outstanding score in 1985, there's another episode from the same year that lingers.

Having contributed handsomely to Monaghan's league and Ulster success, McEneaney was in line for an All Star award that would have done his season and his gifted ability justice. With his intercounty season at an end, his club, Castleblayney Faughs lined out in the annual Kilmacud Sevens tournament with McEneaney at midfield.

In the middle of an early game he found himself involved in a slight tussle, "a nothing incident" that jeopardised his All Star and highlights the lenient treatment of those involved in the Omagh brawls. McEneaney and his marker tumbled for a ball, nothing more, he says, and both were sent to the line by referee John Bailey, former Dublin county board chairman. "The referee said what happened was over the top but it was nothing more than the two of us going for the ball. He told us to go and cool off and two subs came on. We were never sent off and I played the next game. Before that game I asked him was he happy with what had happened in the previous game, he said yes and I played on."

Yet, when the referee's report came back it stated that McEneaney and his marker had been sent off and under All Star rules, he was no longer eligible for an award. "John Moloney, the referee from Tipperary, testified on my behalf when the case went to Croke Park. He said he had seen the two subs come on, which was the crucial part of the whole thing.

During the interview with me they rang the referee of the game and he wouldn't change the report. The facts are clear in my mind even now but I wasn't believed then".

A definite All Star was cast to the ditch and to add further salt, McEneaney was suspended for one month and missed a Monaghan County final with Castleblayney, which they lost. He was club captain the same year. It's not an episode he has ever dwelt upon but perhaps it has made given him a certain determination in the sporting tasks that have followed.

The current test is the raising of standards in a county of proud football folk and he knows that victory and promotion are expected today.

In the previous two league campaigns, Louth managed just three wins, a figure which will be doubled in one season should Louth take the points in Waterford.

If he returns to Blackrock later today with Division 1 football secured for 2007, they'll thank him for it. And they'll thank him even more for restoring the pride.