Leinster SFC Round 1

CARLOW 2-16 LOUTH 0-12

By Kevin Egan at O’Moore Park

Carlow’s fairytale journey over the last twelve months shows no sign of stopping as Turlough O’Brien’s charges produced a devastating second half performance at O’Moore Park in Portlaoise this afternoon, brushing aside Louth with an energetic performance that was full of vim, vigour, cohesive teamwork and no shortage of skill or class.

Late goals from Diarmuid Walshe and Paul Broderick added gloss to the scoreline, but even if those goals hadn’t gone in, there could be no doubting the South Leinster county’s superiority in a game where it looked as if either team was capable of progressing at the interval.

There might not be too much doubt in anyone’s mind as to who will win the 2018 Leinster football championship, but even if this year’s campaign in the eastern province turns out to be nothing more than a long-drawn out coronation of Jim Gavin’s Dublin team, the preamble has made for fantastic viewing so far.

After Laois delivered second half and extra time heroics to overcome Wexford last night, the first 35 minutes of play in this contest were played in an end-to-end fashion, featuring some incredible shooting from both sides.

The two teams came into this contest in very different mindsets, Carlow on a high after securing promotion in the Spring, while Louth endured a hugely difficult campaign in division two and will also feature in the third tier of the 2019 Allianz league.

Despite this, it was the Wee County that burst out of the blocks, with William Woods – one of four championship debutants in Pete McGrath’s team – particularly prominent. Woods kicked two excellent points as Louth moved 0-3 to 0-1 in front, but once Carlow started to get some clean possession, they wasted no time in getting the scoreboard moving themselves.

Paul Broderick was in scintillating form and his first point was a stunning strike on the run at full pace, while a sharp score on the turn from Diarmuid Walshe tied the teams up at 0-4 each after 16 minutes. Louth edged back in front again as Gerard McSorley kicked some great scores from the left wing, but Carlow continued to pose a threat, in no small part due to Seán Murphy’s pace from midfield.

The Fenagh man came as close as he could to getting the game’s first goal when he powered past Darren Marks and stared down Craig Lynch in a one on one situation. The Carlow midfielder rattled the crossbar and saw the ball rebound to safety, keeping the game finely poised.

An 0-10 to 0-9 interval lead looked like a miniscule cushion given the rate of scoring, but after half time Carlow were transformed. Their half back line forced a huge number of turnovers, they shut down the Louth attack and while they struggled to generate the same number of scoring chances from play, Paul Broderick’s incredible accuracy from dead balls kept the scoreboard ticking over.

Ryan Burns chipped over a free after 51 minutes while Tommy Durnin kicked his second score to keep Louth involved at just four points behind going into the closing ten minutes, but Carlow cut loose in style at the death, with Walshe and Broderick showing composure and skill to finish their goal chances and send Carlow into the Leinster quarter-finals, where a fascinating local derby clash with Kildare is their next engagement.

Louth’s misery was completed when Ryan Burns received a straight red card for an off the ball incident involving Chris Crowley in second half injury time, and he’s now likely to miss their first-round qualifier tie next month.

**Scorers for Carlow: **Paul Broderick 1-8 (5 frees), Diarmuid Walshe 1-2, Darragh Foley 0-2 (1 free), Seán Murphy, Sean Gannon, Daniel St. Ledger (free), Eoghan Ruth and Lee Walker (free) 0-1 each.

Scorers for Louth: Gerard McSorley 0-3, William Woods, Ryan Burns (2 frees) and Tommy Durnin 0-2 each, Declan Byrne, Hugh Osborne & James Craven 0-1 each.

CARLOW: Robbie Molloy; Shane Redmond, Danny Moran, Conor Lawlor; Jordan Morrissey, Daniel St. Ledger, Ciarán Moran; Eoghan Ruth, Seán Murphy; Seán Gannon, Paul Broderick, Diarmuid Walshe; Darragh Foley, John Murphy, Darragh O’Brien. Subs: Chris Crowley for Moran (31), Lee Walker for Morrissey (63) Mark Rennick for Walshe (63), Kieran Nolan for Lawlor (68), Brendan Kavanagh for Moran (68)

**LOUTH: **Craig Lynch; Darren Marks, Emmet Carolan, James Craven; Derek Maguire, Bevan Duffy, Anthony Williams; Andy McDonnell, Conor Grimes; Ciarán Downey, Tommy Durnin, Gerard McSorley; William Woods, Declan Byrne, Ryan Burns. Subs: Hugh Osborne for Maguire (22, black card), Ronan Holcroft for Byrne (56), Ross Nally for Woods (62)

Ref: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)