Sam Mulroy delivers killer blow for Louth against Offaly

Offaly led by three points at half-time but managed just five after half-time as they visibly struggled to cope with Louth's conditioning

Sam Mulroy's goal was a dagger to Offaly's chances against Louth. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

NFL Division 2: Offaly 0-19 (0-4-11) Louth 1-21 (1-2-17)

Despite what the scoreboard might have suggested at half-time when Offaly went into the dressing rooms with a three-point lead and despite the fact that Louth were never vastly superior to their fellow Leinster county at any stage, the Wee County still never looked like losing this first round clash; a contest that even at this early stage of the season, looks a lot like a relegation four-pointer.

Depth was a huge problem for the midlanders in 2025 and the absence of six of the side that lost last year’s Tailteann Cup quarter-final to Kildare due to injury, not to mention Cillian Bourke's departure for the AFL, was always likely to leave them with too much to do against the reigning Leinster champions.

A combination of Louth mistakes on the ball and some fine kicks from distance meant that the small home crowd might have started to believe that a win was possible in the first half, with Keith O’Neill, Dan Molloy, Aaron Leavy and the impressive Skerries Harps import Ciarán Murphy all raising orange flags.

When Louth did deliver their passes with accuracy however, they were able to move the ball through the lines and open up opportunities for Conor Grimes, Craig Lennon and Paul Mathews all to kick points. Seán O’Toole had to be sharp to deny Lennon a goal, and while the home side led by 0-14 to 0-11 at the interval, 11 scores was a lot to concede in those conditions. Sure enough, Offaly managed just five after half-time as they visibly struggled to cope with Louth's conditioning. This was exacerbated by just two players coming off the bench, both with very little time remaining.

For their part, Louth started to show their quality and after missing two early two-point attempts, Conor Early and Craig Lennon both split the posts from outside the arc in quick succession to nudge Gavin Devlin’s side into the lead.

Offaly were on the ropes, and when it came, the knockout punch was both self-inflicted, and a surgical strike from the winners. A turnover led to Ryan Burns and Paul Mathews setting up Sam Mulroy, who duly delivered a clinical finish.

Louth never pulled away but they easily kept the Offaly attack under wraps and never trailed by less than three points for the remainder of the game, setting themselves up perfectly for a home clash with Cork next Sunday.

Scorers for Louth: C Lennon (0-5, 1tp); S Mulroy (1-1, 0-1f), P Lynch (0-2), D McDonnell (0-2), C Early (0-2, tp), P Mathews (0-2), C Downey (0-2), C Grimes (0-2), T McDonnell (0-1), D McKenny (0-1), R Burns (0-1).

Scorers for Offaly: K O’Neill (0-5, 1tp, 0-3f), C Murphy (0-4, 1tp), D Molloy (0-3, 1tp), A Leavy (0-2, tp), J Hayes (0-2), C Egan (0-1), D Egan (0-1), E Sawyer (0-1).

OFFALY: S O'Toole; S O'Toole-Greene, D Dempsey, L Pearson; C Egan, J Hayes, D Egan; J McEvoy, A Leavy; C Murphy, K O'Neill, R Egan; D Molloy, J Bryant, E Sawyer. Subs: S Conway for Molloy (59), D Flynn for Bryant (64).

LOUTH: N McDonnell; E Carolan, D Campbell, D McKenny; C McKeever, P Lynch, C Lennon; D McDonnell, C Early; P Mathews, C Keenan, C Downey; C Grimes, S Mulroy, R Burns. Subs: E Callaghan for McKeever (25), T McDonnell for Downey (53), K McArdle for Grimes (62).

REFEREE: Barry Judge (Sligo).