Newtown advance as 13-man Tullamore feel the blues

Newtown Blues (Louth) 0-12 Tullamore (Offaly) 1-07

Leading 1-6 to 0-5 at the interval, the Offaly side had Niall Bracken sent off in the 40th minute, and then with the game in the balance, top scorer John Moloney was red-carded seconds after he’d been shown yellow.

Robert Carr’s point nearing the end was his fourth for Blues, who now face another home game — against Meath champions, Summerhill on Sunday week.

The Louth men were in a good position after 20 minutes playing against a strong breeze; but then conceded 1-2 in quick succession.

It was mostly one way traffic for the hosts in the second-half with Tullamore giving themselves little chance by scoring just one point and constantly questioning decisions or the officials.

Scorers for Newtown Blues: R Carr 0-4, H McGinn, J Kermode 0-2 each, C Judge, B Sharkey 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tullamore: J Moloney 0-4, N Bracken 1-0, J O’Donohue, M Brazil, N Willaimson 0-1 each.

NEWTOWN BLUES: C Bartin; A Tinley, T Costello, N Costello; S Moonan, E Judge, J Murray; K Lynch, B Kermode; J Kermode, H McGinn, A McDonnell; C Judge, B Sharkey, R Carr. Subs: C Branagan for Murray; D Kierans for J Kermode.

TULLAMORE: E Brannan; D Carroll, P McConway, M Conlon; K O’Brien, J Keane, G Ward; J O’Donohue, M Brazil; N Bracken, J Moloney, C Moloney; K Williamson, S Kelly, S Dooley. Subs: B Framcis for Conlon; S Egan for O’Brien; J Kenny for O’Donohue; A Shelly for C Moloney; B Hogan for Williamson.

Referee: A Nolan (Wicklow).