Louth began their Leinster SFC campaign with a five-point quarter-final win over Laois in Cedral St Conleth's Park.
Two second-half goals were the difference. Ryan Burns slotted home a penalty with the first score of the restart, while a late Ciaran Byrne goal gave Louth some breathing room.
Laois were always in the contest, however a late black card to Benny Carroll allowed the winners to gain an edge in the pivotal final stages.
Tired legs, and Louth being able to summon the likes of All Star Craig Lennon and captain Tommy Durnin off the bench, proved to be too much for Justin McNulty’s gutsy side.
The breeze was to Louth’s advantage to begin with, former AFL player Ciaran Byrne making hay in the full-forward line with two points and centre-back Peter Lynch then putting the favourites three points to the good.
Laois eventually settled, landing three scores in a row to go level.
Ger Brennan’s outfit looked to respond and lift it up a gear or two and they did so with Ciaran Downey’s second point and the returning Andy McDonnell cutting in to tap over.
Louth at that stage looked to be comfortable, taking the ball under pressure and building from the back.
However Laois were in no mood to be left behind. Striking four points in a row to take the lead for the first time in the contest, Mark Barry was excellent in this period. With two more scores to his tally, his leadership was noticeable as the underdogs led 0-09 to 0-08 at the break.
There were mumblings of an upset among observers in the new stand in Newbridge, but Burns wiped that all away with a cool penalty to give Louth control of the game.
Their plucky opponents kept battling. With the clock slowly closing Barry made it a one-point game but it all began to unravel for the inexperienced Laois.
A stunning 1-03 blitz from Louth closed out the game. Burns produced a sublime dummy score to get the winning sequence rolling, Byrne then hit a point before Burns turned creator to line up Casey Byrne for the match-winning strike.
Louth will face Kildare in a fortnight's time as they aim to reach a third Leinster final in a row, and ensure they'll be competing for Sam Maguire.
Louth: Niall McDonnell; Emmet Carolan, Dermot Campbell, Donal McKenny; Daire Nally, Peter Lynch (0-01), Conall McKeever; Fearghal Malone, Paul Mathews; Andy McDonnell (0-01), Ciaran Downey (0-03), Conor Grimes; Kieran McArdle (0-01), Ciaran Byrne (1-03), Ryan Burns (1-04,1-00 pen, 0-01’45 0-01f ).
Subs: Tommy Durnin (0-01) for Malone (34), Craig Lennon (0-01) for Grimes (52), Dylan McKeown (0-01) for McArdle (64), Conor Branigan for McDonnell (64), Dara McDonnell for Mathews (73).
Laois: Killian Roche; Trevor Collins, Seamus Lacey, Ben Dempsey; Pa Kirwan, Simon Fingleton, Patrick O’Sullivan; Conor Heffernan, Damon Larkin (0-02); Daniel O’Reilly (0-01), Ronan Coffey (0-03, 0-01f), Kevin Swayne (0-01); Mark Barry (0-08, 0-04f), Niall Corbet (0-01), Brian Byrne (0-01).
Subs: Cathal Lee for Byrne (Blood 28-ht), Benny Carroll for Larkin (blood 42-45), Carroll for O’Reilly (46), Josh Hogan for Fingleton (48), Lee for Byrne (61), Ryan Brady for Coffey (71).
Referee: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon)
Highlights
