Louth secure first win despite late Limerick comeback

Allianz National Football League Division Two Round 3

Louth 1-15 Limerick 1-13

Louth dug deep into the well to overcome a late Limerick onslaught and secure a vital first win in Division Two of the National League.

Level at the break, Mickey Harte’s side soon went six in front in the second half and looked home and hosed. However, buoyed by a goal from Brian Donavan the Munster men hit back strong and it took huge courage from the home side in the final moments to eke out the victory.  

After a feeling out period from both sides it was the visitors who got the scoring underway on seven minutes, a counter-attack move ending with a monster score from Colm McSweeney. Louth hit back immediately as a fine solo run from Leonard Grey teed up Tom Jackson.

After trading efforts from Hugh Bourke and Jackson again, the Wee County struck the net for the first time as Niall Sharkey blasted home from close range. Sadly, the goal was chalked off for a square ball.

Limerick took advantage of this with a rapid-fire brace of score from Hugh Bourke, Cian Sheehan and James Naughton, leaving the hosts trailing by three shortly after the end of the first quarter.

Louth to their credit hit back hard. Throughout the half the likes of Leonard Grey and Tom Jackson were causing problems with their solo runs, while Conor Grime’s power was useful whenever they could get him on the ball.

Peter McStravick was in between the sticks once more for Louth and as expected he featured very high up the pitch, on occasion even getting involved in the build up to attacks well inside the Limerick half.  

The Men in Red bagged a vital goal on 20 minutes. A Ciaran Downey effort from close range hit the posts. Dan Corcoran reacted quickest to the rebound and buried it home past Donal O’Sullivan. Coupled with an earlier free from Sam Mulroy and Louth were in front, 1-3 to 0-5.

Limerick were not behind long, courtesy a brace of scores from range came from Iain Corbett, as well as efforts from Gordon Browne, Colm McSweeney and Adrian Enright.

However, they were cancelled out by further efforts before the half time whistle from Mulroy (2) and Peter Lynch to leave the teams all square at the break, 1-6 to 0-9.

Mickey Harte’s troops knew just how important this game was in their survival bid and came out with huge purpose. Six in a row came from Daire McConnon (2), Mulroy (3) and Niall Sharkey putting the home team in front by six.

Limerick went 17 minutes without a score in this period, with a free from Naughton pretty much their only attempt on the posts. Louth were relentless in comparison. From seven attempts, six led to white flags.

Limerick were forced to hold onto the ball for long spells, often getting turned over before creating a chance. But their work rate did finally get a reward when Brian Donavan hit the back of the net on 54 minutes.

Some lovely link up play along the endline from Hugh Bourke and Peter Nash eventually helped tee up Donavan, who from close range buried it past Peter McStravick.

McConnon did react with a nice point, but a brace of Naughton frees plus a score from Cathal Downes left the two sides level with just two minutes of normal time remaining.

It led to nervy finish in Ardee, but when it mattered most it was The Wee County producing the goods.

Tommy Durnin and Conal McCaul bagged vital scores and despite a late effort from McSweeney, Louth managed to weather the Limerick storm to grab a well-earned victory.  

Limerick: Donal O’Sullivan; Sean O’Dea, Brian Fanning, David Connolly; Iain Corbett (0-1), Cillian Fahy, Tony McCarthy; Colm McSweeney (0-3), Cathal Downes (0-1); Adrian Enright (0-1), Gordon Brown (0-1), Cian Sheehan (0-1); Paul Maher; James Naughton (0-3 frees), Hugh Bourke (0-2). Subs: Peter Nash (0-1) for Maher (HT), Brian Donavan (1-0) for Enright (44), Killian Ryan for Browne (55), Michael O’Donovan for Connelly (61), Ian Ryan for McCarthy (65), Jim Liston for Downes (71).

Louth: Peter McStravick; Dan Corcoran (1-0), Peter Lynch (0-1), Donal McKenny; Leonard Grey, Niall Sharkey (0-1), Conall McKeever; Conor Early, Ciaran Murphy; Anthony Wiliams, Ciarán Downey (0-1), Tom Jackson (0-1); Conor Grimes, Sam Mulroy (0-6, 0-5 frees), Daire McConnon (0-3). Subs: Craig Lennon for Williams (HT), Tommy Durnin (0-1) for Early (61), Conal McCaul (0-1) for Downey (69), Bevan Duffy for McKeever (74).

Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan)