For the second weekend in a row, Sam Mulroy was the hero for Louth in their 1-15 to 1-13 victory over unbeaten Westmeath at Pairc Mhuire in Ardee.
The Naomh Mairtin man is a player on song at the minute and his free-taking tally of 11 points was enough to steer Mickey Harte's men over the line.
Westmeath brought a marksman of their own in John Heslin, but there was not the required support around the talented full-forward.
Despite a lack of service, Heslin remarkably ended as the game's top scorer with 1-10 beside his name.
While the Midlanders were idle last week, Louth picked up their first win in Limerick and they brought that confidence with them to home soil on the day.
Heslin showed his class in the early exchanges with two points and forced Mickey Harte into an early switch. Makeshift full-back Bevan Duffy moving aside for Donal McKenny.
Louth eased themselves into the game with league debutant Tom Jackson lashing over on his home pitch.
After a scrappy opening, Heslin landed a sucker punch to Louth with a speculative shot that drilled over James Califf's head in the 11th minute.
Louth’s response was positive, Harte’s side scored five in a row to take the lead, Mulroy with four frees and Ryan Burns from play after an excellent arching run. Westmeath failed to score for over a quarter of an hour in that barren period.
Heslin and Mulroy duelled at opposite ends of the field in the run into half-time to make it 0-09 to 1-05 at the break, slightly in Louth’s favour.
That added bounce in the Louth step was pumped even further when their full-forward Conor Grimes punched to the net in the 43rd minute.
Just when it looked like Westmeath were going to push on after Sam McCartan and Heslin pointed, Grimes was quickest to react to Mulroy free that struck the post. Crucially substitute Ciarán Byrne quickly added another point while Jack Cooney’s side were still in a daze.
In chasing that lead, Westmeath would expend so much energy to gain parity. They did so with a Heslin brace and McCartan again with his second. Cancelling out the Louth lead took a lot out of the Midlanders' legs.
Louth on the other hand braced themselves, soaked up the pressure and relied on the composure of Mulroy’s place taking and that was always going to be enough, despite Heslin’s best efforts.
Louth: James Califf; Dan Corcoran, Bevan Duffy, Donal McKenny; Tom Jackson (0-01), Niall Sharkey, Conall McKeever; Tommy Durnin, Conor Early; Ciaran Downey, Sam Mulroy (0-11, 0-11f), Craig Lennon; Liam Jackson, Conor Grimes (1-00), Ryan Burns (0-01).
Subs: Ciaran Byrne (0-02) for Lennon (43), Ciarán Keenan for Durnin (52), Tommy Durnin for Burns (61).
Westmeath: Jason Daly; Jack Smith, Kevin Maguire, David Giles; Nigel Harte, Ronan Wallace, Sam McCartan (0-02); Ray Connellan, Sam Duncan; David Lynch; Ronan O’Toole, Conor McCormack; Luke Loughlin, John Heslin (1-10, 0-07f), Alex Gardiner (0-01).
Subs: Lorcan Dolan for McCormack (45), Kieran Martin for Loughlin (50), Senan Baker for Harte (69).
Referee: Conor Dourneen (Cavan)
