14-man Longford had enough class to hand the Louth hurlers a 1-19 to 2-7 beating and ease themselves into the semi-finals of the Nicky Rackard Cup at Pearse Park today.
The hosts had their centre forward and goal scorer Sean Browne sent-off coming up to half time – the Wolfe Tones clubman was handed a straight red card by Kildare referee Ray Houlihan for his part in an off-the-ball incident.
Longford, who lost to Tyrone in last year’s quarter-finals, led by a single point at the break and team captain Brendan Burke got them going with a 30-yard effort after fifty seconds.
Two Collin Connolly points and a Shane Callan score saw Louth reply with interest. Callan ended the half with three points to his name, but Browne’s goal, midway through, was decisive as he beat Diarmuid McCarthy from an acute angle.
Louth, conquerors of Sligo in last week’s play-offs, nabbed two quick goals either side of the interval – centre forward David Dunne and substitute Niall McEneaney both rippled Paddy Cullen’s net, however the home side controlled the remainder of the game with Gareth Ghee – Longford’s top scorer with 2-21 in the regulation phase – taking his tally for the afternoon to 0-6 (2f) with four second half points.
Eoin Donnellan and Neil Casey (2f) took their tallies to 0-3 each as Longford joined the Ulster threesome of Derry, Armagh and Donegal in the draw for the semi-finals.
