Louth ease past Kildare to win three in a row

Mickey Harte's side got revenge for their championship defeat with a five point win over Kildare. 

THIRD WIN IN A ROW: Louth all but secure division two status with win over Kildare. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Louth 2-11 Kildare 0-12

Louth have all but secured their Division 2 status for another season after gaining sweet revenge on troubled Kildare in Ardee.

Glenn Ryan's Lilywhites hammered Louth by 16 points in last year's Championship but came up well short this time and have been plunged into a full scale relegation crisis.

Their fourth defeat from five outings leaves them just a point above rock bottom Limerick, whom they face next in a huge Round 6 encounter at the Gaelic Grounds.

Louth have no such concerns and if they beat both Cork and Dublin in their remaining games, they could even steal a shock promotion place.

Just staying up is a huge achievement for Mickey Harte's men following promotion from Division 3 and their third consecutive win should grant them that safety.

Goals from Man of the Match Tommy Durnin, who finished with 1-2, and Conor Grimes did the trick for the hosts who were the hungrier and more efficient in Ardee.

The only downside for Harte and his panel is the hamstring injury suffered by captain Sam Mulroy who came off in the lead up to half-time.

Kildare's difficulties began before the ball was even thrown in with defender Ryan Houlihan apparently picking up an injury in the warm up, prompting the late introduction of Kevin Flynn.

Ryan and his Lilies management team made three changes in all from the side that lined out against Derry in Round 5 and lost so heavily, drafting in defender Jack Sargent and attacking duo Paddy Woodgate and Daniel Flynn.

Scoring has been a problem for Kildare in Division 2 with just 0-7 registered against both Derry and Cork.

They racked up seven points this time by half-time admittedly but were still wasteful, coughing up three fouls for over-carrying in attack in the opening period while poor shot selection and misplaced passing led to several more turnovers.

Both goalkeepers went long with the majority of their kick-outs and Kildare did profit with a couple of first-half points following impressive fetches at midfield by Eoin Doyle and Kevin Feely, Woodgate and Ben McCormack with the scores.

But last season's Leinster finalists largely operated in Louth's slipstream having conceded an early 1-1 to the in-form hosts.

Niall Sharkey opened the scoring for Louth with a seventh minute point and Durnin, latching onto a looping hand pass over the top of the Kildare rearguard from Mulroy, snatched a goal two minutes later.

Durnin added a point later in the half with a clever fisted finish from tight on the left endline while Grimes closed out the half with a terrific second-half.

The powerful Glen Emmets forward burst through the centre of the Kildare defence and, with Eoin Doyle in his wake, struck a low shot to the corner of Mark Donnellan's net.

Following on from an earlier Daire McConnon point from an advanced mark, when he fielded superbly from Donal McKenny's long ball in, it left Louth with vital momentum and a 2-6 to 0-7 half-time lead.

Mulroy, who came into the game as Louth's leading scorer with 0-17, added two points from frees but was replaced after 28 minutes.

Kildare were missing a talisman forward too with 2018 U-20 Player of the Year Jimmy Hyland ruled out through injury. Feely, just back from a serious Achilles injury, was taken off at half-time.

A promising period after the restart yielded points for Kirwan and Woodgate and suggested Kildare might just reel Louth in.

But while there were further bright spells and a couple of eye catching scores from Daniel Flynn and Barry Coffey, they never got any closer to Louth than three points.

Craig Lennon scored 1-01 as a sub against Meath last weekend and, along with Bevan Duffy, came on to fist over an important point for Louth in the closing minutes this time.

Louth scorers: T Durnin (1-2); C Grimes (1-0); S Mulroy (2 frees), D McConnon (1 mark, 1 free)(0-2 each); N Sharkey, C Downey, R Burns, B Duffy, C Lennon (0-1 each).

Kildare scorers: P Woodgate (2 frees), N Flynn (2 frees) (0-3 each); D Kirwan (0-2); J Sargent, B McCormack, B Coffey, D Flynn (0-1 each).

Louth: J Califf; P Lynch, D McKenny, N Sharkey; L Grey, C Murphy, C McKeever; C Early, T Durnin; C Grimes, S Mulroy, L Jackson; D McConnon, S Downey, R Burns.

Subs: B Duffy for Grimes (6-14, blood); C Lennon for Mulroy (28); C McCaul for Burns (57); Duffy for Jackson (61); J Hughes for McConnon (68).

Kildare: M Donnellan; J Sargent, K Flynn, M O'Grady; P McDermott, D Hyland, S Ryan; K Feely, K O'Callaghan; E Doyle, B McCormack, P Woodgate; N Flynn, D Flynn, D Kirwan.

Subs: M Joyce for McDermott & A Masterson for Feely (h/t); C McMonagle for McCormack (48); J Robinson for Kirwan (55); B Coffey for N Flynn (63).

Referee: B Tiernan (Dublin).