Louth 2-11
Carlow 0-11

by Daire Walsh

Louth produced a late surge against Carlow at Parnell Park to advance to the TG4 All-Ireland junior championship final against Fermanagh.

A single point adrift inside the final-quarter of an intense tussle, Louth outscored their provincial rivals by 1-5 to 0-1 in the closing moments to ensure their place in the West County Hotel Cup decider.

While it was Louth who broke the deadlock in this game with a point on the run from team captain Aine Breen, Carlow raced three points clear with unanswered scores from Cliodhna Ní Shé (two), Rachel Sawyer and Megan Townsend.

Yet after Aoife Russell added to their tally with a white flag effort, the Wee County regained the ascendancy when former Republic of Ireland underage international Kate Flood displayed her soccer skills to poke a loose ball to the opposition net in the 23rd minute.

This was a blow for Carlow, but despite temporarily losing Townsend to a yellow card, another two-point salvo by Ní Shé had the Barrowsiders 0-6 to 1-2 in front at the interval.

This slender lead remained intact when Townsend returned to the fray on 34 minutes, but Louth ultimately restored parity courtesy of Niamh Rice’s outstanding point off the outside of her right boot. The Cooley Kickhams attacker was becoming increasingly prominent and she also found the range to cancel out Carlow points from Sawyer and Ní Shé.

Swapped frees between dead-ball specialists Ní Shé and Flood kept the tie delicately poised moving into the closing quarter, but Carlow were once again in the driving seat when the excellent Sawyer bagged her third point of the contest.

Yet the turning point of the game arrived in the 55th minute as centre half-back Breen got on the end of a sweeping Louth move to fire her side’s second goal of the game.

This was just the tonic that the Wee County needed and whereas Carlow’s sole contribution from that juncture onwards was a seventh Ní Shé point, Russell complimented a brace of efforts from the influential duo of Rice and Flood to offer Paul Hanlon’s side a passage to the junior showpiece alongside Fermanagh  — who they defeated in the competition’s 2019 final.

Scorers - Louth: K Flood 1-3 (0-3f), N Rice 0-5, A Breen 1-1, A Russell 0-2.

Carlow: C Ní Shé 0-7 (7f), R Sawyer 0-3, M Townsend 0-1.

LOUTH: R Lambe Fagan; A Whyte, E Murray, E Hand; L Byrne, A Breen, C Nolan; A Halligan, E Byrne; M Rooney, A Russell, S Matthews; N Rice, K Flood, C McDonald. Subs: L White for Matthews (39), H Lambe Sally for McDonald (42), C O’Reilly for Whyte (44), R O’Connor Leonard for Rooney (59), C Boyle for Murray (60).

CARLOW: N Hanley; A Carroll, A Roche, L Mullins; N Forde, R Bermingham, E Molloy; E Hayden, R Bailey; M Townsend, R Sawyer, S Doyle; S O’Neill, T Lyons, C Ní Shé. Subs: S McCullagh for Lyons (39), N Murphy for Townsend (54), E Ware for Hayden (56), M O’Neill for Muilins (59).

Referee: Ciara Gilroy (Down).

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