Newcomers Louth held on for their second win in Division 3 of the Allianz League this afternoon after edging Longford by 0-11 to 0-10 in a controversial finish in Drogheda.

Early points from Ryan Burns (3) and Padraic Smith had Colin Kelly's side well in control during the first-half as they went on to take in a 0-7 to 0-3 lead at the half.

Longford improved hugely in the second-half however, with points from Robbie Smyth, Brian Farrell and Padraig McCormack, along with the 55th minute introduction of Michael Quinn, putting the heat on the hosts.

Smyth and McCormack kicked frees in the closing 10 minutes which made it a one-point game and there were some Longford supporters feeling hard done by in the end when Clare referee Niall McKenna blew up the game in the 73rd minute, despite four minutes of injury-time being added on.

In Thurles, Sligo scored a remarkable 1-16 to 2-14 win over Tipperary, which backs up their hard fought draw with Armagh last week earned through a late penalty goal.

Today however, both of the Yeats men's goals came in the first-half via Kyle Cawley and Niall Murphy to usher their side 2-9 to 0-8 in front at the interval.

After falling 10 behind, Tipp rallied during the last quarter despite losing Jimmy Feehan to a second yellow card in the 45th and then Philip Austin, who had missed a goal opportunity midway through the second period, to injury four minutes from time.  

Points from Conor Sweeney kept the hosts in contention and they had a chance of gaining something from the game after Michael Quinlivan eventually hit the Sligo net seven minutes from time, but the visitors held on.

Hosts Offaly crushed Antrim with an emphatic 0-23 to 1-7 win in Tullamore after having led by five at half-time, while the late throw-in at the Athletic Grounds saw Laois repeat their trick from last summer's championship in handing 14-man Armagh a 2-11 to 0-16 defeat.

Niall Donoher's ninth minute goal had sent the visitors towards a 1-4 to 0-4 lead 10 minutes before the half, with Armagh owning those minutes and converting scores via Maghery's Aidan Forker, Oisin O'Neill and Stephen Sheridan to leave things level at half-time.

Laois kicked the first two scores of the restart but Kieran McGeeney's side went on an impressive scoring run which reaped points from Stefan Campbell (3), Jamie Clarke (2) and O'Neill to have them as many as five in front.

Donie Kingston's 56th minute penalty, which earned a sending off for Mark Shields, gave the O'Moore men life however, and they'd dig their deepest in the dying stages to fashion points from that same man Kingston and Darren Strong to pull off an incredible victory.

Louth - C Lynch; P Rath, P Reilly, K Carr; D Maguire (0-1), L Dullaghan, A Williams; T Durnin (0-1), A McDonnell (0-1); J Stewart, P Smith (0-1), B Duffy; R Moore, J McEneaney (0-2), R Burns (0-5, 3f). Subs: D Byrne for R Moore, C McKeever for B Duffy (BC), R Holcroft for J McEneaney, E O'Connor for A McDonnell.

Longford - P Collum; P McGee, B Gilleran, D Brady; D McElligott, P McCormack (0-1), C Farrelly; D Gallagher, J Keegan; B O'Farrell, J McGivney, B McKeon; R Smyth (0-7, 6f), L Connerton, S McCormack (0-1f). Subs: D Mimnagh for P McGee, B Farrell (0-1) for J Keegan (BC), D Reynolds for B McKeon, M Quinn for J McGivney, D McGivney for D Gallagher, L Moran for C Farrelly.

Referee - N McKenna.

**

Sligo - A Devaney (0-1'45); R Donovan, K McDonnell, N Gaughan; Keelan Cawley, N Ewing, G O'Kelly Lynch (0-2); P O'Connor, A McIntyre; C Davey (0-1), M Breheny (0-3), J Kelly; Kyle Cawley (1-2), A Marren (0-4, 2f), N Murphy (1-1). Subs: E McHugh for Keelan Cawley, S Gilmartin for P O'Connor, S Coen for N Murphy, J Hynes for C Davey, E Connolly for R Donovan.

Tipperary - E Comerford; A Campbell, P Codd, W Connors; K Fahey, R Kiely, J Feehan; A Moloney (0-2), M Dunne; J Keane, L McGrath, B Fox (0-1); C Sweeney (0-5, 3f), M Quinlivan (1-2, 0-2f), P Austin (0-1). Subs: K O'Halloran (0-4, 3f, 1'45) for L McGrath, E Moloney for K Fahey, J Kennedy for J Keane, L Casey for M Dunne, L Boland (0-1) for P Austin.

Referee - N Ward.

**

Offaly - K Garry; B Darby (0-2), J Lalor, S Pender; D Hogan, E Rigney, D Hanlon (0-1); E Carroll (0-3), C McNamee (0-1); R McNamee, N Dunne (0-8, 4f), M Brazil (0-1); P Cunningham (0-1), B Allen (0-2, 1f), G Guilfoyle (0-2). Subs: C Donohue for D Hogan, W Mulhall (0-1) for R McNamee, S Doyle (0-1) for B Allen, S Nally for D Hanlon, J Brickland for G Guilfoyle, J Gethings for E Carroll.

Antrim - C Kerr; P Healy, P Gallagher, C Hamill; P McBride (0-1), J Laverty, P McAleer; M Johnston, J Dowling; D Lynch, C Murray, S Beatty; R Murray (0-1f), M Fitzpatrick (1-3), C Small. Subs: K Niblock for C Small, R McCann for S Beatty, S Donnelly for M Johnston, O Hamill for P Healy, C J McGourty (0-2f) for D Lynch, J Hannigan for C Hamill.

Referee - E O'Grady.

**

Laois - G Brody; D Strong (0-1), D Booth, J Kelly; E Buggie, K Lillis, S Attride; S Ramsbottom, D Luttrell (0-1); C Murphy (0-1), A Doran, N Donoher (1-2); R O'Connor, D Kingston (1-6, 1-0pen, 0-4f), K Meaney. Subs: D Conway for R O'Connor, R Munnelly for C Murphy, B McMahon for A Doran, P Kingston for S Ramsbottam, E Lowry for N Donoher, D O'Reilly for K Lillis.

Armagh - M McNeice; M Shields, C Vernon, P Hughes (0-1); A Forker (0-1), N Rowland (0-1), A McKay; S Sheridan (0-1), O O'Neill (0-3); N Grimley, R Grugan (0-1), S Campbell (0-5, 3f); A Duffy, E Rafferty, O MacIomhair. Subs: J Clarke (0-3) for O MacIomhair, A Findon for E Rafferty, G McParland for A Duffy, C O'Hanlon for R Grugan.

Referee - D Gough.

Tweet

Most Read Stories