Louth stay unbeaten following impressive win away to Kildare

O’Byrne Cup Group A Round 2

Louth 0-14 Kildare 1-10

Louth brushed off a slow start plus a resurgent finish from Kildare to eke a vital one-point win over the Lilywhites to qualify for the O’Byrne Cup Semi-Finals.

The Wee County struggled early on, but once they got on top they never relented. And despite shipping a second half goal, they showed just how well they can defend when put under pressure, keeping their opponents at bay when it mattered most.

All while getting nine different players on the scoresheet as well, with eight of their final tally of 14 coming from play. It will be a performance that excites the Louth management and supporters, all while knowing there is still room for improvement ahead of the National League.

It was the home the raced into an early lead, Cein McMonagle (2), Darragh Kirwan and even keeper Aaron O’Neill (via a free) chipping in as the hosts created a 0-4 to 0-0 gap in the opening 13 minutes.

As many anticipated following their heavy championship drubbing, Louth set up conservatively, with most of the forwards coming back to make life tougher for the lilywhites. This even included sacrificing Conor Grimes, who was by far their best attacker in their opening round win.

While they did make Kildare go through the phases, the problem was that these tactics only really negate scores from close range. The hosts were able to bring the ball back towards midfield before unleashing some monster scores. All four of the opening points being from range.

The Wee County had just two efforts in this period, an uncharacteristic miss from a placed ball via the returning captain Sam Mulroy, as well as another effort from him that was well blocked down.

But as time wore on, Louth were growing into this contest. They were working extremely hard to get nearly everyone forward for most attacks and began drawing more fouls as they stretched the Kildare defence.

This saw Mulroy slot over four frees which coupled with a nice effort from Grimes has Harte’s troops back on level terms on 21 minutes. Such was their level of intensity; they also began forcing the home side into errors that created more opportunities for them.

They started to rely less on frees, their movement getting them into scorable positions, as efforts from Paul Mathews, Ciaran Murphy and Daire McConnon, coupled with another free from their captain saw Louth go into the break three in front, 0-8 to 0-5.

Kildare looked to their bench and introduced Jack Robinson, a man who grabbed six in their recent win over Wexford. Throughout the half his pace in the corner was a huge threat and he was on the scoresheet within seconds of his introduction.

Despite another score from Jimmy Hyland, the hosts struggled to get on level terms, as the Wee County began to take advantage of an ever-growing breeze. Ciaran Byrne and McConnon hitting over monsters to negate Kildare’s early brace.

However, a mistake nearly ruined all their hard work. A misplaced pass from goalkeeper Declan Byrne ended up in the hands of Hyland, who duly set up Barry Coffey. Luckily his effort from close range hit the posts, with Conal McKeever doing well to win a free and avert any further danger.

Backed by this piece of luck, the men in red grew in confidence, passing the ball around the field at pace as they again began stretching Kildare once more. They were also helped by three turnovers from Lilywhite kickouts, which put them under further pressure.

Two more points came via Shane Matthews and Leonard Grey, leaving Louth five clear. And with 15 minutes left to play, they knew they just had to work hard defensively to stay undefeated in 2023.

But the hosts were given a lifeline on 55 minutes, when for the first time in his Louth competitive goalkeeping career Declan Byrne was forced to grab the ball out of the back of the net.

From close range Mick O’Grady would have both his attempts on the goal blocked by Murphy and Shane Matthews, but the second block down ricocheted into the path of Alan Connor and then Kildare’s Michael Joyce for what was a very fortuitous goal.

A brace of efforts from Jay Hughes, who was introduced early in the half, kept Louth ahead, but all the momentum was with the men in white, who clearly smelt blood against a tiring Louth team that had worked so hard throughout the contest.

A Jimmy Hyland free and a superb effort from Robinson, who brushed aside the challenge of substitute Ger Browne (another sub having a great game), left only a single point in the tie with just the final two minutes of allotted injury time left to play.

The hosts were patient, holding the ball for pretty much the entire duration of added time, going from wing to wing in the hope of drawing a free that would level the contest.

But instead, it was Louth that remained resilient, defending in packs, and forcing Kildare into giving away a free themselves that allowed the visitors to earn a valuable win.

Louth: Declan Byrne; Dan Corcoran, Peter Lynch, Alan Connor; Leonard Grey (0-1), Ciaran Murphy (0-1), Conal McKeever; Conor Early, Ciaran Byrne (0-1); Paul Matthews (0-1), Conal McCaul, Shane Matthews (0-1), Daire McConnon (0-2), Sam Mulroy (0-4 frees), Conor Grimes (0-1). Subs: Jay Hughes (0-2, 0-1 free, 0-1 45) for Mulroy (52), Peter McStravick for McCaul (52), Johnathan Commins McConnon (52), Ger Browne for Connor (56), Tom Grey  for S Matthews (56).

Kildare: Aaron O'Neill (0-2, 0-1 free, 0-1 45); Mick O'Grady, Michael Joyce (1-0 goal), Darragh Malone; Tony Archbold, Ronan Fitzsimons, Matthew Kelly; Brendan Gibbons, Alex Beirne; Paul Cribbin, Barry Coffey, Cein McMonagle (0-2); Jimmy Hyland (0-2 frees), Darragh Kirwan (0-1), Paddy Woodgate. Subs: Aaron Masterson for Beirne (HT), Jack Robinson (0-2) for Kirwan (HT), Neil Flynn (0-1) for Coffey (52).

Referee: Andrew Smith (Meath)