Offaly hold off Louth rally

O’Byrne Cup - Offaly 0-13 Louth 1-9: A late Louth rally came up short as Offaly rang in the new year with a win in Darver. 

The visitors were the better team in the opening half and after trading early scores, they surged ahead with six points without reply in a seven-minute spell.

That ultimately proved to be the winning of an otherwise tight contest, although Louth did close the gap to a more manageable four points at half-time, 0-8 to 0-4.