“Louth show well despite defeat to Tyrone”
Allianz National Hurling League Division 3 Round 2
Protection and Prosperity Louth GAA Training Centre, Darver
Louth 0-16 Tyrone 2-18
Louth’s Allianz National Hurling League Division 3 campaign suffered a setback on Saturday afternoon as they went down by eight points to Tyrone at the Protection and Prosperity Louth GAA Training Centre in Darver.
Fresh from an impressive away victory over Armagh, Paddy McArdle and Dee Murphy’s side arrived with confidence, and that early belief was reflected when Darren Geoghegan split the posts with a superb long-range free inside the opening minutes. However, Tyrone soon found their stride and began to assert the composure and physicality that comes from operating at Division 2 level last season.
The Red Hand County gradually took control, building a four-point advantage as they dictated the tempo and pressed relentlessly. Geoghegan continued to keep Louth in touch, and when Conor Murphy clipped over a fine point to reduce the margin to just one, there was renewed optimism among the home support. Tyrone, though, responded with authority, re-establishing their dominance to take a three-point lead into the interval.
Half-time: Louth 0-10 Tyrone 0-13.
Louth showed positive intent on the restart, with early second-half points from Seán Flynn and Geoghegan briefly narrowing the gap. That momentum was halted when Pierce Mullin struck decisively for Tyrone, driving the sliotar to the net and swinging the contest firmly in the visitors’ favour.
Conor Murphy came agonisingly close to a crucial goal moments later, only to be denied by an excellent save from Tyrone goalkeeper McElhatton. Any lingering hopes were extinguished when Tyrone landed another goal at the opposite end, opening up a commanding lead with ten minutes remaining.
To their credit, Louth continued to battle to the final whistle, with Geoghegan adding further scores in the closing stages. While the defeat will disappoint, there were encouraging spells against higher-level opposition, and plenty for the management to build on. Attention now turns to addressing some costly skill errors ahead of next weekend’s trip to Enniskillen to face Fermanagh.
Louth Team: Conor Clancy; Aaron McGuinness, John Casey (0-1), Stephen Kettle; Sean Hodgins, Peter Fortune, Michael O’Shea; Sean Flynn (0-1), Thomas McCreesh; Seaghan Conneely, Darren Geoghegan (0-11, 6f & 1’65’), Sam Phelan; Paddy Lynch, Conor Murphy (0-2), Ciaran McKelvey (0-1).
Subs: Sean Magill for Sam Phelan (52 Mins), Fionn Cumiskey for Paddy Lynch (63 Mins), Mikey Gormley for Paddy Lynch (64 Mins).
Tyrone Team: Conor McElhatton; Sean Paul McKernan, Oran McKee, Cian McGuigan; Seamus Sweeney (0-1), Fionn Devlin, Fergal Donaghy (0-1); Ciaran Magill (0-3), James McCann (0-1); Aidan Woods (0-1), Aidan Kelly (0-6, 2f & 1’65’), Rory Weir (0-1); Michael Little (0-4), Kiefer Morgan, Niall McGarel.
Subs: Pierce Mullin (2-0), for Fergal Donaghy (Half Time), Liam Griffiths for James McCann (60 Mins), Cahir Monroe for Aidan Woods (70 MIns), Cillian Kerr for Niall McGarel (71 Mins)
