Louth advance to Leinster semi-final after hitting four goals past Wexford

Man-of-the-match Ciarán Downey’s goals turned a match which the underdogs led by four points at one stage and propelled Louth into the ascendency. His first major came two minutes before the break and helped the Reds in front by 1-6 to 0-8, while the second arrived midway through the second period to spark Louth’s recovery from a poor third quarter.

Last year’s beaten Leinster finalists dominated thereafter with Downey, Ciarán Keenan, Tommy Durnin and Sam Mulroy contributing in no small way to a seven-point success.

It is just the third time since 1998 that the Wee county has qualified for the provincial last four and on both previous occasions, they have gone on to reach for the decider.

Wexford were the sharper of the teams for much of the first half. Graeme Cullen (3), Glen Malone, Páraic Hughes, Kevin O’Grady and Mark Rossiter all registered points from play, while it took a superb save by Niall McDonnell to deny the latter a goal after 22 minutes.

With the sides level at 0-4 apiece, Eoghan Nolan cut apart the Louth defence with a pass in behind for Rossiter to claim and his powerful shot was destined for the net only for McDonnell’s finger tips to deflect the ball off the crossbar.

Louth had an earlier penalty claim waved away by referee Seamus Mulhare when Ryan Burns appeared to be tugged on his way through and frustration mounted for the visitors as the Yellowbellies pressed four clear by the 27th minute. The margin could have been greater only for some slack shooting by John Hegarty’s side, who dropped five attempts short of the target prior to the interval.

Those miscues proved costly when Keenan and Anthony Williams linked well to set Downey in on the goal and the midfielder made no mistake to level matters with a major before Tom Jackson gave Louth the lead.

Malone got Wexford back on terms when the match resumed but Louth were threatening for goal and both Mulroy and Burns had powerful shots cleared off the line.

But the winners failed to score during the third quarter, despite having a numerical advantage for a time after Eoin Porter’s black card, and looked lifeless until Downey kickstarted their winning surge with a scintillating run down the heart of Wexford’s defence followed by an equally outstanding finish to the roof of the net.

And Louth made sure of the triumph during the last 10 minutes as Mulroy twice slotted past Rory Turbitt from penalties won by Keenan.

SCORERS – Louth: S Mulroy (2-0p, 0-4f) 2-4; C Downey 2-0; T Durnin 0-2; L Jackson, T Jackson, C Grimes (1m), R Burns 0-1 each.

Wexford: G Cullen, S Nolan (2f) 0-3 each; G Malone, L Coleman (1 45), M Rossiter, P Hughes 0-2 each; K O’Grady 0-1.

LOUTH: N McDonnell 7; P Lynch 7, D Campbell 6, D McKenny 6; L Grey 6, A Williams 6, C McKeever 7; T Durnin 8, C Downey 9; C Grimes 5, S Mulroy 8, C Murphy 5; C Keenan 8, T Jackson 6, R Burns 6. Subs: L Jackson 7 for T Jackson, N Sharkey 6 for Grey, B Duffy 6 for Murphy (all 46), D Corcoran 5 for Campbell (61), P Mathews 5 for Durnin (68).

WEXFORD: R Turbitt 6; E Porter 6, G Sheehan 7, P Hughes 7; G Malone 8, D Lyons 7, D Furlong 7; L Coleman 7, N Hughes 6; K O’Grady 7, E Nolan 6, M Rossiter 7; G Cullen 7, S Nolan 7, B Brosnan 6. Subs: T Byrne 6 for E Nolan, C Kinsella 6 for Brosnan (both 49), R Waters 6 for Cullen (61), S Pettit 6 for Rossiter (66), Jonathan Bealin 5 for O’Grady (70).

REF: S Mulhare (Laois)

Photo Credit: Alicija McGuinness (Studio Upstairs Photography)