The excellent Kate Flood helped herself to a personal haul of 2-3 at TEG Cusack Park in Mullingar on Sunday as Louth held off a spirited display from Carlow to successfully defend their TG4 Leinster Junior Football Championship title.
Louth had already withstood a commendable fightback to claim a 5-8 to 2-15 round robin victory over the Barrowsiders at the Gaelic Grounds in Drogheda a fortnight ago and the reigning champions (who also defeated Carlow in last year’s decider) moved two points clear in the early moments of this encounter with consecutive scores from Eimear Byrne and Flood.
While Carlow opened their account through a Clíodhna Ní Shé free on nine minutes, Louth fired back with additional contributions from the dynamic attacking duo of Flood and Byrne.
Even though Elaine Ware bagged a second point for Carlow just shy of the first-quarter mark, three scores on the bounce from Laura Collins, team captain Aine Breen and Flood ensured Louth brought a 0-7 to 0-2 advantage into the interval.
Kevin Larkin’s side maintained their firm grip on the proceedings with a powerful point on the run from Ceire Nolan on the restart, before Flood calmly struck home on 35 minutes for her first goal of the game.
Although Aoibhin Webb added a white flag effort for Carlow at an awkward angle, excellent approach work from Byrne paved the way for Flood to the net for a second time in the 38th minute.
This left Carlow with a mountain to climb for the remainder of the action, but the determined Barrowsiders gave themselves a fighting chance either side of the third-quarter mark. Their challenge was rejuvenated when Ware flicked the ball to the net after an attempt at a point rebounded off the post on 43 minutes and the gap was suddenly down to a manageable six in the wake of Ní Shé adding a quickfire brace.
Aibha Kiernan and the evergreen Edel Hayden were also on target to leave just four points between the teams with just eight minutes of normal time remaining.
The pressure was certainly being ramped up on Louth, but – reminiscent of their men’s team in last weekend’s historic Leinster senior football championship triumph over Meath – the Wee County held onto possession for large stretches in the closing moments and ultimately came away with their eighth provincial junior crown.
Scorers – Louth: K Flood 2-3, E Byrne 0-2, Á Breen, L Collins, C Nolan 0-1 each.
Carlow: E Ware 1-1, C Ní Shé 0-3 (2f), E Hayden, A Webb, A Kiernan 0-1 each.
LOUTH: R Lambe Fagan; S Matthews, E Hand, H Lambe Sally; L Byrne, S McLaughlin, A Russell; R Beirth, Á Breen; L White, E Byrne, E Murray; K Flood, L Collins, C Nolan. Subs: A Halligan for White (46), M Rooney for Collins (50), G McCrave for Lambe Sally (53).
CARLOW: N Hanley; S McCullagh, C Mahon, K Tunstead; T Lyons, A Carroll, R Bermingham; R Bailey, E Ware; B Nolan, E Hayden, E Molloy; A Webb, C Ní Shé, K Burke. Subs: A Kiernan for Webb (38), O Woods for Molloy (39-46, blood), Beibhin Nolan for Mahon (43), Woods for Bronagh Nolan (46), M Townsend for Hayden (53).
By Daire Walsh
