Louth 2-26
London 1-19
Tony Tighe reports from Ruislip
WILLIAM WOODS KICKED 13 points as Louth thumped London for their first win since 3 January.
The Wee County attack was in clinical form, registering only three wides, with St Finbarr’s clubman Woods lethal from placed balls.
London managed to keep in touch during an end-to-end first half, where defending at times appeared optional, with Ryan Elliott netting after a flowing attacking move on nine minutes to bring the teams level.
But the Exiles then lost Louth native Martin Carroll to a black card and found themselves five points down by the 18th minute after Ronan Holcroft’s expert finish past London goalkeeper Gavin McEvoy.
The home side managed to stay in touch with their free-scoring opponents until two minutes before half-time. Gerard Byrne, who replaced Carroll, coughed up possession cheaply on halfway and a long punt downfield was punched to the net by Conor Grimes.
That gave Louth a 2-12 to 1-9 lead at the interval and they made the game safe early in the second period with five unanswered points, three coming from the dependable Woods.
London did hit a purple patch midway through the half, with former Republic of Ireland underage international Adrian Moyles kicking some wonderful points as they reduced the gap to four points.
But London then went scoreless for a sustained period and Louth pulled clear again. Woods blazed a penalty over the bar, but it mattered little, as he moved into double figures with a late flurry of points.
Scorers:
Louth: W Woods 0-13 (11f, 0-1pen), R Holcroft, C Grimes 1-1 each, D Byrne, C Downey, G McSorley 0-3 each, A McDonnell, T Durnin 0-1 each.
London: A Moyles 0-10 (6f), R Elliott 1-1, F McMahon 0-3, L Gavaghan 0-2 (2f), M Gottsche (f), K Butler, L Irwin 0-1 each.
Louth: N Gallagher; D Marks, E Carolan, J Craven; D Maguire, B Duffy, A Williams; A McDonnell, T Durnin; C Downey, D Byrne, G McSorley; W Woods, C Grimes, R Holcroft.
Subs: N Conlon for Holcroft (54, black card), T McEnaney for Downey (60), F Donohoe for Marks (65), E Lafferty for Williams (66), A O’Brien for McSorley (70).
London: G McEvoy; P Butler, C Dunne, C Murphy; D Carrabine, R Jones, P Begley; A McDermott, M Carroll; A Moyles, M Gottsche, T Waters; R Elliott, L Gavaghan, F McMahon.
Subs: G Byrne for Carroll (16, black card), M Walsh for Jones (ht), C O’Neill for Butler (37), L Irwin for McDermott (46), E Murray for Carrabine (49, bc), K Butler for Murphy (50),
Referee: P Hughes (Armagh).
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