All-Ireland SFC Round 1B Qualifier

Carlow 0-13 London 0-12

Carlow just about held on for a one-point victory over London in this Round 1B All-Ireland SFC Qualifier at McGovern Park, Ruislip.

The Exiles battled bravely right to the finish, but ultimately ran out of time as they came looking for an equalising score.

Carlow were the better team in the first-half thanks largely to their dominant M & M midfield partnership of Brendan Murphy and Sean Murphy.

A point apiece from the pair helped the Leinster side into a 0-7 to 0-5 half-time lead, but London came out of the traps quickly at the start of the second-half.

Mark Gottsche was put through but opted for the percentage option of taking a point rather than gambling and going for goal.

London had the wind at their backs in the second-half but suffered a serious blow when wing-back jarlath Branagan got his marching orders after 50 minutes for a second yellow-card.

It looked like Carlow were making their numerical advantage count when they moved 0-12 to 0-9 ahead after 55 minutes, but then they too were left rueing indiscipline when Brendan Murphy was red-carded.

Points from Rory Mason and the impressive Liam Gavaghan for London made it a one-point game with five minutes to play.

A Paul Broderick free gave Carlow the breathing space they needed, and all London could muster in response was an Adrian Moyles point that ultimately proved too little, too late.

Scorers for Carlow: P Broderick 0-6 (6f), D Foley 0-3 (2f), B Murphy 0-1, S Murphy 0-1, J Murphy 0-1, D O’Brien 0-1

Scorers for London: R Mason 0-4 (4f), L Gavaghan 0-4 (1f), E Murray 0-2, J Branagan 0-1, A Moyles 0-1

Carlow: R Molloy; C Crowley, S Redmond, C Lawlor; D Moran, D St Ledger, G Kelly; B Murphy, S Murphy; E Ruth, D Foley, A Kelly; P Broderick, S Gannon, J Murphy. Subs: C Moran for E Ruth (35 mins black card), D O’Brien for A Kelly (51 mins), K Nolan for G Kelly (67 mins).

London: G McEvoy; P Butler, Colm Dunne , C O'Neill; J Branagan (0-01), R Jones, Colin Dunne;  M Carroll, C Og Greene; E Murray, L Gavaghan, M Gottsche; R Mason, O Mulligan, K Butler. **Subs: **M McGirr for C Dunne (67 mins), A Moyles for E Murray (67 mins), C Doran for C O’Neill (67 mins), D Moore for O Mulligan (71 mins)

**Referee: **N Cullen (Fermanagh)