Reds pay for poor first half display

LOUTH summoned a second half revival to almost catch Kildare at the finish of last Tuesday night’s U20 FC group clash in Darver.

Had Offaly beaten Longford in the other pool encounter, the single-point defeat would have been enough to propel the Reds directly into the last four. Instead, with the Faithful losing, Fergal Reel’s side paid for a below-par opening half performance where Kildare scored two goals within 60 seconds to effectively secure victory.

The Wee county were standoffish for three quarters of the contest despite starting quite brightly and this ensured the full-backs were under immense stress given the lack of pressure being applied by Louth in the middle third of the pitch.

Yet to have trailed by the minimum on 19 minutes looked favourable for the hosts, considering the gust they also had to contend with, but Kildare had threatened to find the net and only for Cian O’Donoghue’s fine save from Ross Harris’ shot, the Lilies would have raised a green flag earlier in the affair.

They did after a sweeping move with Sam Savage blazing high for a goal and then, on 24 minutes, Oisín Grufferty sailed through the middle of the defence and rifled to the bottom corner, ensuring Louth trailed by 2-4 to 0-2 at the break without having registered from play.

Colm Dalton extended the lead to nine at the beginning of the second period but Louth upped the ante in response, pointing on seven consecutive occasions as Aaron McGlew, Seán Callaghan, Kieran McArdle and Seán Reynolds rose to the challenge.

In between, James Maguire looked to be through on goal but his shot skewed wide of the mark. Had the chance been taken, Louth would almost certainly have been in front by the time Dara Crowley got Kildare’s first score in 26 minutes, entering stoppage time.

McArdle and Maguire reduced the deficit past the hour but the Lilies held on to top the group. LOUTH: Cian O’Donoghue; Cormac McKeown, Cameron Maher, Fionn Tipping; Tadhg McDonnell, James Maguire 0-3 (2f), Keelan Martin; Dara McDonnell 0-1, Seán Callaghan 0-1; Liam Flynn 0-1, Kieran McArdle 0-3 (2f, 1 45), James Rogers; Aaron McGlew 0-1, Seán Reynolds 0-1, Darragh Dorian. Subs: Pearse Grimes-Murphy for Rogers (26), Ronan Deery for Tipping (38), Adam Gillespie for Dorian (38), Conor McGinty for Martin (53), Tadhg Kellett for McGlew (60)

KILDARE: David McPartlin; Rob Fitzgerald, Eoin Lawlor, Ethan Mointaine; Mark Gibbons, James Harris, Oisín Grufferty 1-0; Dara Crowley 0-1, Fionn Cooke; Ryan Sinkey 0-1 (1f), Killian Browne 0-1, Colm Dalton 0-2; Sam Savage 1-0, Ross Harris, Niall Dolan 0-1 (1f). Subs: Josh O’Donoghue for Sinkey (50), Ben Loakman for Savage (54), Seán Mahon for Grufferty (60).

REFEREE: Kieran Olwell (Meath).