Leitrim were unable to add to a bright first-half as Turlough O’Brien’s Carlow powered to a 2-14 to 0-13 victory on the back of second-half goals from Paul Broderick and Ciaran Moran at Netwatch Cullen Park.
The visitors were two points up at the interval but failed to find the target until the 56th minute of the second-half, but by then Broderick had hit the first goal, while Ciaran Moran’s second ended Leitrim’s hopes seven minutes from time.
Both teams had a player sent off in the fiery closing stages – Chris Crowley for Carlow and Brendan Gallagher for Leitrim – but in the end it was a straightforward canter to the full-time whistle and into Round 3B for the home side.
Following on from 17-point loss in the Connacht championship to Roscommon, Leitrim would have been forgiven for limping into this tie, but Benny Guckian’s side were fluid in attack and solid in defence in the early stages.
The first point of the game fell to Broderick after the home side broke well out of defence, but Leitrim hit them with a powerful ten minutes where they kicked five points without reply.
A late introduction at midfield, Conor Cullen did much of the damage with his accurate kick passing into the full-forward line – Ryan O’Rourke in particular benefited from his assists – but it was Cullen who kicked the early leveller, before O’Rourke made it 0-02 to 0-01 in the fifth minute.
Those lads today weren't just football players, they were leaders, each and everyone of them, what a time to be from Carlow ❤️💛💚#CarlowAbu
— Brendan Murphy (@BrendanMurphy17) July 8, 2017
During that early Leitrim dominance, Carlow could have hit a goal but John Murphy flashed his shot across the face of goal, but at the other end O’Rourke and Brendan Gallagher made it 0-05 to 0-01 for Leitrim by the 13th minute.
It was unclear whether Carlow were standing off their opponents as they sussed them out or whether Leitrim were totally in control, but once the home side upped their intensity and started to run at their markers they began to gain a foothold.
It was some relief when Gary Kelly landed Carlow’s second point, and despite Ronan Kennedy’s free, Broderick landed two frees to trim the lead to two points by the 22nd minute.
Broderick was off the mark with a couple of simple frees in the first-half, which meant Leitrim could maintain their advantage, and two points from Brendan Gallagher and Kennedy meant the visitors led 0-09 to 0-07 at the interval.
Carlow performed brilliantly in the opening minutes of the second half and captain Foley slotted a long-range effort to narrow the gap to just a single point, before Broderick tied the match at 0-09 apiece with a point of his own in the 42nd minute.
Two minutes later, Borderick popped up with the first of Carlow’s goals to give the hosts the lead.
Sean Murphy charged through the Leitrim rearguard and Broderick provided a superb finish from a narrow angle to put Carlow in the driving seat.
Sean Gannon and Foley tagged on further scores to make it an unanswered 1-04 for Carlow until Leitrim finally managed a second half score as O’Rourke raised a white flag after 56 minutes.
Substitute Darragh Rooney added to O’Rourke’s effort as Leitrim looked to make a comeback.
But Carlow were not fazed and they turned the screw late on as Kieran Nolan, Ciaran Moran and Shane Clarke rattled over points before Moran rounded off the match with his side’s second goal of the afternoon seven minutes of time.
Both teams finished the match with 14 men as Crowley and Gallagher were given their marching order three minutes from time after a mass brawl, but it mattered little in the end as Carlow secured a seven-point victory to keep their campaign going.
Carlow: R Molloy; C Crowley, S Redmond, BJ Molloy; D Moran, D St Ledger; G Kelly (0-01); S Murphy, S Gannon (0-01); A Kelly, D Foley (0-02, 0-01 free), E Ruth (0-01); P Broderick (1-06, 0-03 frees), C Moran (1-01), J Murphy.
Subs used: S Clarke (0-01) for A Kelly (h-t), M Rennick for Molloy (h-t), K Nolan (0-01) for G Kelly (57 mins), D O’Brien for Broderick (67 mins), J Clarke for Moran (67 mins), C Lawlor for S Murphy (72 mins).
Leitrim: B Flynn; O Madden, P Maguire, M McWeeney; J Rooney, G Reynolds, R Gallagher; S Moran, D McGovern; B Gallagher (0-02, 0-01 free), C Gaffney, C Cullen (0-01); R O’Rourke (0-04), R Kennedy (0-04, 0-04 frees), G Plunkett.
Subs used: N McGovern for D McGovern (35 mins, black card), D Rooney (0-01) for Plunkett (45 mins), D Moran for S Moran (45 mins), N Plunkett for R Gallagher (51 mins), K Keegan for J Rooney (58 mins), K Beirne (0-01, 0-01 free) for Kennedy (68 mins).
Referee: Padraig Hughes (Armagh
