The Leinster side held a six-point cushion – 1-3 to no score – after 12 minutes, but the Saffrons reeled in the deficit after the break.

A pointed penalty by Limerick centre-back Iain Corbett in the dying seconds gave the Treaty County a dramatic win in a Division 4 tie played in high wind and a first-half downpour.

Two goals in as many first-half minutes laid the platform for favourites Meath to cruise past Carlow in Portlaoise and through to the Leinster SFC quarter-finals.

Laois have sealed back-to-back promotions for the first time in their history after a dramatic win over Carlow.

Carlow 2-17 Louth 0-12

John Sugrue was understandably pleased but sensibly restrained after watching his Laois side make the best of a strong start to see off neighbours Carlow and claim Division 4 honours.

Monaghan brought the Carlow odyssey to an end, but only after a mighty scare at Netwatch Cullen Park, where the Ulster men finished strongly for a flattering five points Qualifier win.

Monaghan and Carlow have booked their places in round three of the All-Ireland Football Qualifiers.

Carlow booked their place in tomorrow’s qualifier draw after edging a dour defensive battle with London at Ruislip.

Cavan 2-13 Carlow 0-12: Hosts Cavan became one of a select group of counties to win an All-Ireland qualifier following the infamous six-day-turnaround.

Brendan Murphy kicked 1-4 and Darragh Foley eight points as Carlow enjoyed a convincing qualifier win over Wicklow.

A late surge of scoring for the second game running proved decisive for Louth as they cruised through to a mouth-watering Leinster SFC quarter-final clash with old rivals Meath.

O’Byrne Cup - Meath 1-18 Carlow 1-4: Meath recorded a resounding victory against hosts Carlow at Netwatch Cullen Park yesterday, with an early second-half goal from Mark Battersby sending them on their a facile victory.

Longford 2-15 Carlow 1-8: Three weeks on from their refusal to bow to pragmatism and shut up shop against Dublin, Longford’s commitment to attractive football finally paid off on Saturday.

Laois 3-16 Carlow 0-8: It was as smooth a win as you could wish for but Laois manager Tomás Ó Flatharta learned little about his team as they steamrollered Carlow at Netwatch Cullen Park in this Leinster Championship opener on Saturday night.

Laois gained the expected upper hand in this local derby against Carlow to set up another battle for domestic bragging rights against Kildare in the Leinster quarter-final.

Longford 1-18 Carlow 1-12: Longford full forward Brian Kavanagh kicked six points in a man-of-the-match performance as Longford maintained their unbeaten Division 4 record with a merited win over a plucky Carlow at Netwatch Cullen Park yesterday.

Carlow 0-11 Waterford 0-9

Carlow maintained their unbeaten run in Division 4 with a dramatic away win over Waterford at Fraher Field.

Carlow maintained their unbeaten run in Division 4 with a dramatic away win over Waterford at Fraher Field.

Allianz FL Division 4 Round 2: Carlow 2-9 London 0-13: Second-half goals from Hughie Gahan and Darragh O’Brien proved decisive as Carlow just held off the sustained challenge of London in this entertaining fog-shrouded NFL Division 4 tie at Netwatch Cullen Park yesterday.

Antrim 1-12 Carlow 0-15: Allianz National Football League Division 4: The day was bright and brisk, but the football in yesterday’s Allianz NFL Division Four tussle at St Paul’s Complex in Belfast, didn’t match the conditions.

Kildare 2-07 Carlow 1-09: An injury-time goal from Padraig Fogarty rescued an understrength and underwhelming Kildare in Athy last night.

Carlow 0-17 Waterford 1-13

Late points from sub Jack Kennedy and Daniel St Ledger sealed a remarkable come-from-behind victory for Carlow in this afternoon’s All-Ireland SFC round 1B qualifier against Waterford at Dr. Cullen Park.

LEINSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL:

London 2-7 Carlow 0-13

Athlone IT 1-15 Carlow 0-13

Carlow have one championship debutant for Sunday’s Leinster SFC first-round meeting with Westmeath at Cusack Park in Mullingar (3.30pm).

Tipperary 0-16 Carlow 1-14

Michael O’Donoghue and Jack Sherwood will both make their league debuts for Kerry in Castlebar tomorrow.

Carlow 1-12 Dublin 3-13

Munster 12 Leinster 34

Ireland duo Andrew Trimble and Stephen Ferris have been included in Ulster’s 28 man squad to face Ospreys in the RaboDirect PRO12 on Saturday (Liberty Stadium, 6.30pm).

Laois manager Justin McNulty admits the underwhelming performance by his charges in scraping over the line against Carlow will not be good enough to progress in the second round of qualifiers.

Laois 1-10 Carlow 0-9

On a weekend of championship shocks, the unfortunate reality for once mighty Meath was that this stalemate probably wasn’t one of them.

Carlow 1-12 Meath 1-12

Cork boss Conor Counihan has kept faith with the side that claimed the honours in last month’s league final against Mayo for their 2012 championship opener against Kerry in Sunday’s Munster SFC semi-final.

A dominant first-half display from Fermanagh saw Peter Canavan’s side continue their unbeaten run at Dr Cullen Park yesterday.

Tony Hannon hit 1-6 as Wicklow kept their slim promotion hopes alive.

Alan Clohessey emerged as the Clare hero when he scored an injury-time winning point at Dr Cullen Park yesterday.

Brian Murphy and JJ Smith fired second-half goals as Carlow made hard work of a poor London side at Ruislip.

Goals in both halves were crucial to Leitrim’s success in Dr Cullen Park yesterday.

PAT GILROY was keen to play down the significance of Dublin’s early morning training as they overcame Carlow in their Bord na Mona O’Byrne Cup opener at Dr Cullen Park.

CRESCENT COLLEGE Comprehensive won the Bowen Shield after a seven-year gap with an exciting victory over PBC in an epic contest at Temple Hill.

ANTRIM footballers showed a lot of character and composure in Saturday’s closing stages to squeeze Carlow out of the race.

MICHEAL MEEHAN returns to the Galway starting lineup for tomorrow’s All-Ireland SFC qualifier against Meath in one of five changes made by manager Tomás Ó Flatharta following the Connacht semi-final defeat to Mayo.