FL3: second consecutive defeat for Louth
March 16, 2015
TIPPERARY 4-16
LOUTH 3-11
Louth are back in the relegation battle after suffering a second successive defeat in Division 3 of the National Football League thanks to an eight-point reverse at home to Tipperary on Sunday afternoon.
Following their loss to Sligo the previous week, Louth conceded another high score but they did manage to remain in contention to the end of a game that roller-coaster of a game that produced seven goals.
Although the Munster side held the upper hand for much of the 70 minutes, Louth had their spells in the game and with Derek Crilly contributing a second half hat-trick, they retained hope throughout.
However, Tipperary's superiority saw them hold out in the end as Louth faded in the closing stages while their cause was not helped by the loss of Eoin O'Connor to a second yellow card.
An extraordinary game began in fitting fashion as a Tipperary hit the net inside the opening minutes thanks to George Hannigan. Louth did get off the mark through Ryan Burns, but when Conor Sweeney added a second goal on 17 minutes, his side held a comfortable 2-3 to 0-2 lead.
Just when Louth looked set for another heavy defeat, they responded in impressive fashion with six points on the bounce as Adrian Reid, Eoin O'Connor, Declan Byrne, Burns and Colm Judge hit the target to reduce the gap to 2-3 to 0-8.
Before the break, Tipperary hit back with three points to lead by 2-6 to 0-8 and that looked to be the springboard for them to take command as they had the advantage of the wind in the second half.
It didn't turn out as they planned as with six minutes the Wee County were a point ahead thanks to Crilly's first goal and points from Byrne and Reid to leave the score 1-10 to 2-6.
Unfortunately Louth couldn't build on that advantage and Tipp responded with four unanswered points before things got decidedly worse for Louth. Eoin O'Connor picked up a second yellow on 51 minutes before Liam Casey hit a third goal to help the visitors lead by 3-12 to 1-11 with 15 minutes to play.
Crilly was in no mood to accept defeat and he added his second and third goals either side of a Philip Austin three-pointed to give Louth renewed hope as they trailed by 4-12 to 3-11 on 60 minutes.
However, the fairytale end didn't materialise as Tipperary closed out the game in impressive fashion with the final four points to record their third win of the campaign.
TIPPERARY: Colum Nugent; Alan Campbell, Paddy Codd, Robbie Kiely 0-1; Seamus Kennedy, Peter Acheson, Colin O'Riordan 0-2; George Hannigan 1-0, Stephen O'Brien 0-2; Liam Casey 1-1, Philip Austin 1-1, Ian Fahey; Conor Sweeney 1-5, Barry Grogan 0-3, Brian Fox. Subs: G Mulhaire for Kiely, B Mulvihill 0-1 for Fahey, A Morrissey for Kennedy, D Lonergan for Grogan, D Dwyer for Austin, S Flynn for Fox.
LOUTH: Neil Gallagher; Kevin Toner, Paddy Reilly, Padraig Rath; Anthony Williams, Dessie Finnegan, James Stewart; Bevn Duffy 0-1, Eoin O'Connor 0-1; Adrian Reid 0-2, Colm Judge 0-2; Declan Byrne 0-2; Ryan Burns 0-3, Danny O'Connor, Peter Kirwan. Subs: Shane O'Hanlon for P Kirwan, Conor Grimes for D O'Connor, Derek Crilly 3-0 for C Judge, Derek Maguire for R Burns, Tommy Durnin for B Duffy.
