LOUTH WILL BOUNCE into next weekend’s clash with Monaghan at Clones after they had a very productive evening in the Farney County this evening, racking up their first win over Meath in 49 years of championship football.
If their respective performances against Dublin were anything to go by, Louth were entitled to be considered the strongest of favourites for this contest, but Meath’s ‘against the head’ win in the league game between the two sides this year was a sign of how the old hoodoos might still be a factor.
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The first score of the day was registered by Meath’s Mathew Costello on the day after his father Paul passed away.
But Louth then picked off three first half goals to set the tone for the day. Sam Mulroy hammered the first, and after Meath replied through Cathal Hickey, they struck again through Craig Lennon, who broke a tackle and applied the necessary finish. Meath were on the ropes, and Lennon duly knocked them to the canvas just before the half-hour mark when he fielded a rebound off the upright and knocked in their third goal.
Nine down at half-time, Meath kicked the opening score of the second half through Eoghan Frayne and then gained an extra man when Bevan Duffy was black carded, but they couldn’t capitalise and failed to score in that extra ten minutes, enabling Louth to ease to a famous 3-10 to 0-9 win.
Kieran Martin tackles Oisín Conaty of Armagh. Leah Scholes / INPHO
Leah Scholes / INPHO / INPHO
Armagh 0-16
Westmeath 0-11
Westmeath were the surprise packages in last year’s All-Ireland series when they put in huge performances against Armagh and Tyrone, and they came away from the Athletic Grounds with their heads held high again, albeit after falling short by 0-16 to 0-11.
It was a cagey, tight encounter with neither side taking too many risks by pushing up and going after the opposition, and that suited Westmeath who were just one point adrift at half-time, 0-7 to 0-6. Sam McCartan got some good scores while high-class points from Ronan O’Toole and Robbie Forde also kept the midlanders in the game, but the first six minutes of the second half proved crucial.
Two points from Oisín Conaty and one each from Rory Grugan and Andrew Murnin pushed the lead out to five, and Westmeath always had more than a goal to find from then on, and they never looked like bridging that gap, at least until the closing minutes when Blaine Hughes made a huge save to deny Stephen Smith a goal that might have introduced some tension into an otherwise routine finale.
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Louth hammer Meath, Armagh off the mark with win over Westmeath
Louth 3-10
Meath 0-09
LOUTH WILL BOUNCE into next weekend’s clash with Monaghan at Clones after they had a very productive evening in the Farney County this evening, racking up their first win over Meath in 49 years of championship football.
If their respective performances against Dublin were anything to go by, Louth were entitled to be considered the strongest of favourites for this contest, but Meath’s ‘against the head’ win in the league game between the two sides this year was a sign of how the old hoodoos might still be a factor.
The first score of the day was registered by Meath’s Mathew Costello on the day after his father Paul passed away.
But Louth then picked off three first half goals to set the tone for the day. Sam Mulroy hammered the first, and after Meath replied through Cathal Hickey, they struck again through Craig Lennon, who broke a tackle and applied the necessary finish. Meath were on the ropes, and Lennon duly knocked them to the canvas just before the half-hour mark when he fielded a rebound off the upright and knocked in their third goal.
Nine down at half-time, Meath kicked the opening score of the second half through Eoghan Frayne and then gained an extra man when Bevan Duffy was black carded, but they couldn’t capitalise and failed to score in that extra ten minutes, enabling Louth to ease to a famous 3-10 to 0-9 win.
Armagh 0-16
Westmeath 0-11
Westmeath were the surprise packages in last year’s All-Ireland series when they put in huge performances against Armagh and Tyrone, and they came away from the Athletic Grounds with their heads held high again, albeit after falling short by 0-16 to 0-11.
It was a cagey, tight encounter with neither side taking too many risks by pushing up and going after the opposition, and that suited Westmeath who were just one point adrift at half-time, 0-7 to 0-6. Sam McCartan got some good scores while high-class points from Ronan O’Toole and Robbie Forde also kept the midlanders in the game, but the first six minutes of the second half proved crucial.
Two points from Oisín Conaty and one each from Rory Grugan and Andrew Murnin pushed the lead out to five, and Westmeath always had more than a goal to find from then on, and they never looked like bridging that gap, at least until the closing minutes when Blaine Hughes made a huge save to deny Stephen Smith a goal that might have introduced some tension into an otherwise routine finale.
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All-Ireland SFC Armagh championship action Louth Meath Westmeath