Gaelic Games

Leinster Under-21 Football championship: Louth survive Carlow fightback after perfect start

Louth’s Cian Doyle sent off on a double yellow card with 15 minutes remaining

Ryan Burns: his goal helped to carve out a 3-4 to 0-3 lead against Carlow at Darver in the Leinster Under-21 football championship match. Photograph: Inpho
Ryan Burns: his goal helped to carve out a 3-4 to 0-3 lead against Carlow at Darver in the Leinster Under-21 football championship match. Photograph: Inpho
Wed Feb 25 2015 - 22:39

Louth 3-11 Carlow 2-10

Louth survived a gutsy fightback from Carlow in Darver to advance to a quarter-final date with Longford next Wednesday. They raced into a 10-point lead after just 17 minutes, but saw it cut to the minimum after the break, and when Cian Doyle was sent off on a double yellow card with 15 minutes remaining, an upset looked to be on the cards.

With a strong wind at their backs, Louth made a perfect start, goals from Robbie Carr, Doyle and Ryan Burns carving out a 3-4 to 0-3 lead. But Carlow didn’t panic and substitute Mark Rennick set up a goal for Graham Power, before netting one himself to close the deficit to 3-4 to 1-4.

Louth rallied again to lead by four at half-time, 3-6 to 2-5, but Carlow made a blistering start to the second-half with points from Power, Kelvin Chatten and Fiach O’Toole reducing the arrears to a point.

Louth restored a one-goal cushion before Doyle’s dismissal, and despite their numerical advantage, Carlow tired in the closing stages. They were five points down when Diarmuid Walshe rattled the crossbar. However, they only managed a Niall Quinlan free in the final minutes as Louth held on.

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LOUTH: D Breen; A Smith, C Kirk, C Ward; B Faulkner, D Marks, K Faulkner; J Stewart, W Campbell; R Quigley (0-2), E Lafferty, R Carr (1-1); R Burns (1-5, four frees), C Doyle (1-0), C Grimes (0-3). Subs: S Kilcoyne for Marks (h-t), C Carthy for Ward (46 mins), D Maguire for Campbell (48 mins), C Sheridan for Carr (59 mins), C Lenehan for Smith (59 mins), S McConnell for Grimes (60 mins BC).
CARLOW: L Roberts; M Furey, B Cawley; G Power (1-2), D Hickey, F O'Toole (0-1); J Dwyer, K Chatten (0-1); T Kenny, C Fenlon, S Webb; D Walshe (0-1), R O'Brien (0-1), N Quinlan (0-3, two frees). Subs: M Rennick (1-1) for Cawley (28 mins), C Blake for Kenny (37 mins), C Kelly for Hickey (53 mins), L O'Sullivan for Fenlon (56 mins), MJ Doran for O'Toole (59 mins).
Referee: B Tiernan (Dublin).