Kildare 1-15
Louth 1-9

Dermot Earley's return to full fitness is almost complete after he played the full 60 minutes of Kildare's Leinster JFC first round victory over Louth in Newbridge last night.

Eligible for the grade on account of the fact that he didn't play senior club championship football last year due to a recurrence of a knee ligament injury, the two-time All Star midfielder made an immediate impact when his long ball over the top sent Cathal McNally on his way to scoring a goal inside the first minute.

Playing a holding role, Earley also set up a point for Gareth Duffy and raised a white flag himself in the closing stages of the first half. The Lilywhites led 1-7 to 0-6 at the break, with three points from Ronan Holdcroft keeping the visitors in touch.

After the home side opened up a six-point lead on the restart, Louth hit back with a goal from substitute Barry Hamilton. But the reigning provincial champions weren't to be denied as points from Duffy, Barry Lawlor, Earley and Cian Bolton sealed the win.

Kildare - W Clinch; J Lambe, W Burke, C Fagan; E Fitzpatrick, C Feeney, C O'Shea; B Lawlor (0-2), D Earley (0-2); T McCann, S Hanafin (0-4), D Flynn (0-1); G Duffy (0-3), C Bolton (0-2), C McNally (1-1). Subs - D Barker for Feeney, J Kehoe for Lambe, S Darcy for Flynn, E Hyland for McCann.

Louth - S Reynolds; S Murphy, D Collier, P Nixon; J Clarke, C Bellew, C Rafferty (0-3); S McCann (0-1), R Leavy; R Moore, P Carrie, R Holdroft (0-3); N Conlon (0-1), W Woods (0-1), C Matthews. Subs - D Matthews for Moore, D McComish for Bellew, B Hamilton (1-0) for Carrie, M Rogers for Mathews, G Murray for Nixon.

Ref - N Ward (Westmeath) Tweet

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