Wee men cause big upset

Louth caused a sensation by beating Kildare on a 1-22 to 1-16 scoreline in the quarter-finals of the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship at Páirc Tailteann on Saturday night.

The Wee men led 0-14 to 1-6 at the break after Padraig O'Neill had hit the back of the net for Kildare in the 13th minute.

Kildare kicked the opening three points of the second half, but Louth responded with a Ray Finnegan goal in the 39th minute.

Johnny Doyle guided the Lilywhites back to within two points in the final quarter with a string of points from placed balls, but Louth finished brilliantly to hit five points on the spin and win comfortably in the end.

The omens looked good for the Wee men when their full-forward Shane Lennon, an injury doubt all week, put them ahead after 26 seconds and the excellent JP Rooney added a second minutes later.

Indeed, Louth raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 when they kicked three points in succession as Doyle provided the Lilywhites' sole response from a free.

Padraig O'Neill then hit the back of the net for Kildare in the 13th minute after a superb pass from Ronan Sweeney. Sweeney added a point of his own and Kildare had turned the tables to lead by a point, 1-3 to 0-5.

Kildare appeared to have weathered the early storm and the script dictated that they would go on to dominate the game. However, Peter Fitzpatrick's side again showed remarkable composure to kick four successive scores, with midfielder Brian White contributing handsomely from placed balls.

Dermot Earley was sprung from the bench in the 28th minute, coming on for O'Neill who had scored 1-1 from play in that time.

Louth led by 0-14 to 1-6 at the break, but Kildare appeared to take control at the start of the second half and hit three successive points through Daryl Flynn, David White and Kavanagh to cut the gap to just two points.

Just when Kildare looked to be on the verge of staging a comeback, they were hit with a sucker punch in the 39th minute. Louth wing-back Finnegan snuck in behind the Kildare defence and drilled a shot into the top corner for a vital goal.

White and Judge added scores and Louth were back in a seven-point lead.

The game was end-to-end and thrilling for those in attendance at Navan. Doyle, the Lilywhites' free-taker then kicked three successive points to leave his side trailing by four. Brian White responded for Louth but Doyle and Kavanagh hit back with further scores and the gap was down to two.

However, that was as close as they would come as Louth showed remarkable courage - and no little skill - to give the perfect response, kicking five points on the trot with Andy McDonnell, White, Judge and Lennon all on target to lead by 1-22 to 1-15 going into the closing stages.

Kildare scored the last point of the game, but Louth held on comfortably for a sensational win that sets up a semi-final clash with the winner of Sunday's game between Westmeath and Wicklow.