Louth 1-15 Westmeath 1-13
Louth recorded their second win on the trot in Division Three on a day of high individual tallies at Páirc Mhuire in Ardee.
Louth's Sam Mulroy duelled with Westmeath's John Heslin all afternoon in the scoring stakes.
Heslin did outscore his counterpart on the day with 1-10, but Mulroy’s 11 points, all frees, was enough to steer his side to a deserved victory.
Ironically, it was one of Mulroy's missed frees eight minutes into the second half that swung the game for Mickey Harte's side as full forward Conor Grimes rose the quickest to punch in the rebound after Mulroy struck the upright.
The home side lead at the break, 0-9 to 1-5, after a serendipitous effort from Heslin in the 11th minute had Jack Cooney’s side in front early on.
Westmeath failed to capitalise on the good fortune and on the back of Grimes’s major, Mulroy guided Louth home down the stretch.
LOUTH: J Califf; D Corcoran, B Duffy, D McKenny; C McKeever, N Sharkey, T Jackson (0-1); T Durnin, C Early; C Lennon, S Mulroy (0-11, 11 frees), C Downey; L Jackson, C Grimes (1-0), R Burns (0-1).
Subs: C Byrne (0-2) for Lennon (43 mins), C Keenan for Durnin (52), T Durnin for Burns (61).
WESTMEATH: J Daly; J Smith, K Maguire, D Giles; N Harte, R Wallace, S McCartan (0-2); R Connellan, S Duncan; D Lynch, R O'Toole, C McCormack; L Loughlin, J Heslin (1-10, seven frees), A Gardiner (0-1).
Subs: L Dolan for McCormack (45 mins), K Martin for Loughlin (50), S Baker for Harte (69).
Referee: C Dourneen (Cavan).
