After a bright start Leitrim led by Ryan O'Rourke held out for a hard fought win over fourteen man Waterford, who had Cian Kiely dismissed on a second yellow in Carrick-on-Shannon.
Leitrim dominated the first twenty-five minutes when they hit five unanswered points. In this period Ben Guckian whipped over two points for the home side while Ryan O'Rourke, Jack Kelly and Fergal McLoughlin added a point each.
Waterford, who were aided by the breeze found it difficult to settle into the game, finally opened their account when Conor Murray fired over a 25th minute point. Murray added another point for the visitors shortly afterwards.
Brendan Guckian hit back with a Leitrim goal on the 27 minute mark. Waterford finished the half with a flourish with Liam Mulligan and Colin Foley finding the Leitrim net close to the break. At the interval led 1-09 to Waterford 2-03.
Leitrim went further ahead in the opening minute of the second half when Oisin McLoughlin fired over a well taken point. Waterford hit with a Dermot Ryan two pointer and then a single point which reduced Leitrim's lead to the minimum.
After that Leitrim increased their lead with a Jack Kelly split the Waterford uprights. Waterford rallied to get level terms by the 50th minute with points from Stephen Curry and Donal Fitzgerald but they failed to score after that.
Four minutes after that Ryan O'Rourke edged Leitrim ahead when he split the Waterford uprights. Leitrim then closed out the game with two Ryan O' Rourke points while Jack Kelly and Fergal McLoughlin added a point apiece.
Matters got a little heated in the closing minutes of the action when started to play a number of minutes of possession football in the middle of the field.
Referee Aidan Mark Loughran to disciplinary action near the end when he dismissed Waterford's Cian Kiely on second yellow while he also issued a yellow to Michael Curry.
Leitrim: D O'Shea; E McLoughlin, K Clancy, S Harkin; J Rooney, M Diffley, E McNamara; C Quinn, K Keegan; F McLoughlin (0-02), Riordan O'Rourke (0-01), M McKiernan; B Guckian (1-02, 2f), Ryan O'Rourke (0-04), J Kelly (0-06, 1tp).
Subs: D Feely for Diffley (17); O McLoughlin (0-01) for McNamara (30); G Reynolds for Harkin (HT); Colm McLoughlin for McKiernan (48); C Reynolds for Quinn (55).
Waterford: P Hunt; G Power, D Ó'Cathasaigh, B Hynes; D Fitzgerald (0-01), A Crawford, C Ó'Cuirín; M Curry, C Walsh; C Foley (1-00), A Ryan, L Mulligan (1-00); C Murray (0-02), S Curry (0-01), D Walsh (0-01).
Subs: D Ryan (0-03, 1tp) for D Walsh (HT); M O'Brien for S Curry (50); C Kiely for Hynes (67): C Fennell for Ó'Cuirín (72).
