Louth down Kildare to reach back-to-back Leinster finals for first time since 1950s

Kildare 0-13

CAPTAIN SAM MULROY fired seven points as Louth created a little piece of history at Croke Park, securing back-to-back Leinster SFC final berths for the first time since the 1950s.

Not since the 1957 and 1958 seasons has the Wee County contested two Leinster finals on the trot but Ger Brennan’s side will return to GAA HQ in a fortnight to face Dublin or Offaly.

This was a straightforward semi-final win too with Louth never behind and ahead from the 22nd minute of the game until full-time against a thoroughly out of sorts Kildare.

Louth beat Kildare in each of the last two Division 2 campaigns and the Lilywhites were relegated to Division 3 this spring so this result wasn’t exactly unexpected.

But Kildare’s alarming slide will still shock supporters and Glenn Ryan’s side will compete in the Tailteann Cup in the coming weeks for the first time.

Louth, meanwhile, will hope to build on the experience of last year’s final loss to Dublin when they return on 12 May.

They have kicked on from the Mickey Harte era impressively and followed up their four-goal quarter-final defeat of Wexford with another strong performance.

Conor Grimes was terrific in attack again, scoring two points and setting up so much more for those around him. Louth fans will hope to continue the party tomorrow evening at nearby Parnell Park where their U20s will face Meath in the provincial final.

Louth’s Anthony Williams and Aaron Masterson of Kildare.

Louth never looked in any great danger in this one and led by 0-10 to 0-6 at half-time. Ciaran Downey closed out the first-half scoring with a sumptuous solo score and while Kildare got the margin back to three points at one stage in the third quarter, that was as good as it got for Ryan’s side.

Three Louth points in-a-row from Mulroy and Craig Lennon between the 56th and 65th minutes, opening up a six-point lead at that stage, set the seal on a memorable win.

There was a huge boost too with the late introduction of Ciaran Byrne, the former AFL player who hadn’t featured for Louth in 15 months due to a cruciate knee ligament injury suffered at the start of last year’s league.

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Louth scorers: Sam Mulroy 0-7 (0-4f, 0-1 45), Conor Grimes 0-2, Tommy Durnin 0-2, Craig Lennon 0-2, Ryan Burns 0-1, Niall Sharkey 0-1, Paul Mathews 0-1, Ciaran Downey 0-1.

Kildare scorers: Kevin Feely 0-4 (0-2f), Shane Farrell 0-3 (0-3f), Paddy Woodgate 0-2 (0-2f), Darragh Kirwan 0-2, Daniel Flynn 0-1, Tony Archbold 0-1.

Louth

1. Niall McDonnell

2. Donal McKenny, 20. Dan Corcoran, 4. Peter Lynch

22. Niall Sharkey, 5. Conal McKeever, 6. Anthony Williams

8. Tommy Durnin, 12. Conor Grimes

15. Ciaran Downey, 11. Ciaran Keenan, 3. Craig Lennon

26. Paul Mathews, 14. Sam Mulroy (captain), 13. Ryan Burns

Subs

7. Leonard Grey for Sharkey (52)

25. Conor Early for Burns (55)

21. Bevan Duffy for Corcoran (57)

10. Ciaran Byrne for Mathews (68)

9. Ciaran Murphy for Downey (72)

Kildare

1. Mark Donnellan

4. Mick O’Grady, 3. Shea Ryan, 2. Ryan Burke

7. Paddy McDermott, 6. Eoin Doyle, 5. Jack Sargent

8. Aaron Masterson, 24. Kevin O’Callaghan

12. Shane Farrell, 14. Darragh Kirwan, 9. Alex Beirne

13. Kevin Feely, 11. Niall Kelly, 15. Daniel Flynn

Subs

21. Barry Kelly for Beirne (41)

10. Paddy Woodgate for Niall Kelly (50)

17. Tony Archbold for Burke (55)

22. Luke Killian for O’Callaghan (59)

26. Shane O’Sullivan for Masterson (67)

Referee: Conor Lane (Cork).