A Sam Mulroy goal in the dying seconds saw Louth upset Armagh in Inniskeen this afternoon to move into the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland senior football championship.

It finished 2-20 to 2-19 at a packed out Páirc Grattan, where Mulroy’s two-point effort to try and force extra time feel short and slipped through the hands of Ethan Rafferty to the Orchard net for Louth’s first championship win over their neighbours to the north.

Kieran McGeeney’s side made the ideal start to this Round 2A clash with a goal from corner-back Gareth Murphy inside the opening minute and would lead for the next 25 minutes until Mulroy’s two-point free was backed up by singles from Ciaran Downey and Dara McDonnell.

Downey fired Louth in front in the 29th minute and late scores from James Maguire and Craig Lennon insured that Gavin Devlin’s side carried in a 0-14 to 1-9 lead at half-time.

Lennon pushed the Leinster side three in front a minute into the resumption, however the Ulster champions would be back on level terms when Oisin Conaty hammered in their second goal in the 37th minute.

Armagh pushed two ahead prior to McDonnell hitting their net on 45 minutes, but a two-pointer by Jarly Og Burns steadied their ship again and they looked to be over the line with points in the closing 10 minutes from Darragh McMullen, Burns and Jason Duffy.

However, a Mulroy free left two in it with as many minutes remaining and the Naomh Máirtín sharpshooter would hit the jackpot with game’s last kick to send Louth into the last eight and their stunned Orchard counterparts into tomorrow morning’s Round 3 draw.

Tweet

Most Read Stories