Laois looked to be home and hosed at half time in this ESB Leinster MFC quarter-final before Louth surged a dramatic comeback which just fell short in Portlaoise. Laois 0-14 Louth 1-10 The Leinster champions, with Eddie Kelly in prolific form, totally overpowered their opponents in the first half at were deservedly 0-10 to 0-3 ahead at the break. Louth received the perfect tonic on the restart when Kevin McArdle tapped over a point and then drilled home a penalty to leave just three points between the sides. Laois responded well with scores of their own from Kelly and Diarmuid O'Flaherty before they lost wing back Richard Ryan to a second yellow card. Louth played their extra man to a tee and four successive points left just a solitary score between the sides with time running out. Kelly gave Laois some breathing space with a neat score before McArdle hit back for Louth before the referee's final whistle ended any hopes of a draw for the gallant Wee County side. Laois: M Dowling, J Scully, N Gorman, J Mulhare, R Ryan, M Whelan, T Connolly 0-1, D Meredith, D Kingston 0-2, J Moore, J O'Loughlin 0-1, S Shortall, C Meredith, E Kelly 0-6, D O'Flaherty 0-3. Subs - R Kehoe for Whelan, S Miller 0-1 for D Meredith, G Reddin for C Meredith. Louth - S Rice, S McMahon, G Moran, G Hoey, A O'Brien, P Rath, P Berrill, B Donnelly, B Duffy, R Costelloe, P Lynch, J Clarke 0-1, D Mulligan, P Smith, K McArdle 1-7. Subs - D Maguire 0-2 for O'Brien, D Moran for Duffy, C Smith for Mulligan. Tweet

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