Kildare lose out by three to Louth

Kildare exited from the Leinster SFC at O'Connor Park, Tullamore, this afternoon following a three-point defeat at the hands of Louth.

It was a game that The Lilies dominated for long periods, especially the second half but after drawing level twice, then were hit by a brilliant two-pointer from Tommy Durning for the decisive score of the game.

Not for the first time this season, Kildare's lack of two-pointers proved costly.

Kildare dominated the opening ten minutes or so opening up an impressive lead of five points but slowly but surely Louth worked their way into the game but after cutting the lead back to four, Kildare kicked on again going six clear.

A McArdle point followed by a Sam Mulroy point and a two-pointer free and there was just two between them.

Craig Lennon and Alex Beirne exchanged points but Louth were coming more into the game and when Sam Mulroy hit a two-pointer, Louth took the lead by one for the first time.

Then just before the break Louth hit, a four-man move ending with Conall McKeever palming to the net and while the referee consulted with his umpires for a square ball, the goal, stood, the hooter sounded and Louth went to the dressing room leading 1-11 to 0-10.

The second half, as described, saw Kildare dominate but despite levelling twice, could never get their noses ahead and in the end an excellent two-pointer from Durnin saw them over the line.

Louth now go to play in their third Leinster final in a row while for Kildare it is the Tailteann Cup in two weeks time.

Final score: Louth 1-18 Kildare 0-18.

Scorers: Louth, Sam Mulroy 0-7 (1 two-pointer free, one two-pointer, 1 free), Craig Lennon 0-4, Conall McKeever 1-0, Tommy Durnin 0-2 (two-pointer), Kieran McArdle 0-2, Ryan Burne 0-2, Donal McKenny 0-1,

Kildare, Alex Beirne 0-6 (2 freeS), Darragh Kirwan 0-5 (1 free), Colm Dalton 0-2, Callum Bolton 0-1, Kevin Feely 0-1, Ryan Burke 0-1, Ryan Sinkey 0-1, Brian McLoughlin 0-1,

LOUTH: Niall Mc Donnell; Craig Lennon, Dermot Campbell, Donal McKenny; Daire Nally, Peter Lynch, Conal Mc Keever; Tommy Durnin, Andy McDonnell; Paul Matthews, Ciaran Downey, Conor Grimes; Kieran McArdle, Sam Mulroy, Ryan Burns. Subs: Dara Mc Donnell for Paul Matthews (41 minutes); Dylan Mc Keown for Ryan Burns (58 minutes); Emmet Carolan for Dermot Camobell (58 minutes); Liam Jackson for Andy McDonnell (60 minutes); Conor Branigan for Conor Grimes (67 minutes).

KILDARE: Cian Burke; Ryan Burke, Mark Dempsey, Brian Byrne; Tommy Gill, David Hyland, James McGrath; Kevin Feely cpt, Callum Bolton; Colm Dalton, Alex Beirne, Ben McCormack; Ryan Sinkey, Darragh Kirwan, Brian McLoughlin. Subs: Cathal Hagney for Callum Bolton (half-time): Niall Kelly for Ben McCormack (43 minutes); Jimmy Hyland for Ryan Sinkey (54 minutes); Ryan Houlihan for Tommy Gill (65 minutes); Kevin Flynn for James McGrath (68 minutes);

REFEREE: Brendan Griffin, Kerry.