Louth take the spoils in Portlaoise to see Clare out of the championship
All-Ireland SFC: Louth 2-17 Clare 2-14
Louth
punched their away day ticket for next weekend's preliminary quarter finals after a nervy win over
Clare
in Portlaoise. The win was a much needed one nonetheless for the Leinster champions.
In the do-or-die battle, Ger Brennan's side needed that knockout focus not to exit the championship without a win after their Leinster final success.
Munster finalists Clare on the other hand were left without a victory in the All-Ireland group stages after nine attempts.
Despite being competitive throughout and the manner in which the Banner pushed Louth all the way, Peter Keane's side could not recover from a Louth blitz in the opening half.
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With Louth back to grips after a terrific Clare start, Manus Doherty was black carded for a foul on Craig Lennon and with that Louth proceeded to outscore the Banner 2-4 to 0-1 in that period.
Louth smelt blood and Ciaran Downey and Sam Mulroy went for the jugular with first-half goals. The damage done.
The midfield pairing of Dara McDonnell and Tommy Durnin gave them a solid platform and Lennon's positioning further up the field helped Louth find their groove and realign their season.
Craig Lennon in action for Louth. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Clare were competitive, particularly through Mark McInerney, but not threatening until the frantic finish. Emmet McMahon and McInerney landed late points to make it 2-8 to 0-6 at the half-time whistle.
Confidence tangled with belief is a funny thing. Rory McMahon ticked both boxes when the cornerback fired home for the first score of the second half. That allowed Clare to stay in the game and gave them a sense the result they needed wasn't beyond their grasp.
Despite the draw being sufficient for Louth to advance it played on their minds as Clare went for broke. Sam Mulroy landed two from beyond the arc, one from a free, to stretch the lead at times but there was a lack of fluency as a result.
The Banner brought the energy and when veteran Eoin Cleary found the net he cut the gap to four. With minutes remaining, Louth tried to control things and struggled to halt Clare's momentum.
But with substitute Conor Branigan's two-point impact off the bench either side of Cleary's heroic effort Louth's fine season continues for another week at least.
LOUTH:
N McDonnell; D McKenny, E Carolan, D Corcoran; C McKeever, P Lynch, D Nally; D McDonnell, T Durnin; C Grimes (0-0-1), C Downey (1-1-3), C Lennon (0-0-1), C Keenan, S Mulroy (1-2-2, 1tpf, 2f), R Burns (0-0-1).
Subs:
R Walsh (0-0-1) for Lennon (32 mins), C Branigan (0-0-2) for Grimes, D McConnon for Keenan (both 53), A Williams for Burns, T Markey for McDonnell (both 65), K McArdle for Downey (68).
CLARE:
S Ryan (0-0-1, 1f): M Doherty, R Lanigan, R McMahon (1-0-0); C Rouine, A Sweeney, I Ugwueru; B McNamara (0-0-1), D Walsh; D Coughlan, E McMahon (0-0-2), C Meaney; A Griffin (0-0-1), E Cleary (1-0-2), M McInerney (0-0-6, 3f).
Subs:
S Griffin for Meaney (24 mins), B Rouine for Walsh (50), J Stack for Sweeney (59), K Sexton (0-0-1) for Cleary (64), C Downes for McMahon (67).
Referee:
B Tiernan (Dublin).
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