Louth inflicted a second defeat of the Leinster U20 championship on Longford in a rip roaring game.
Louth scored a 3-14 to 2-12 victory in an end-to-end game.
The game sprang into life as Matthew Carey opened the scoring after two minutes.
Louth responded impressively through a Ciaran McArdle goal and a James McGuire point.
Six minutes later Longford had their first goal. Michael Flynn, Andrew Flynn and Carey combined to setup the goal for their clubmate.
Louth responded fast with points from Sean Reynolds and Darragh McDonald, Louth leading 1-3 to 1-1 on 15 minutes.
Matthew Carey responded with two points to level the game on 18 minutes. 60 seconds later Darragh Dolan converted a mark to restore Louth's lead.
Andrew Flynn grabbed Longford's second goal with the next move of the game. Flynn driving through the Louth defence to rattle in a goal.
Sean Reynolds and Liam Flynn responded with points for Louth to level the game; 2-3 to 1-6.
Louth took control just before half-time. Kieran McArdle converting a penalty two minutes before the break.
Points from Keelan Martin and Kieran McArdle saw Louth lead by five at half-time; 2-8 to 2-3.
Longford returned for the second-half a determined team. Points from Caolan Lynch, Michael Flynn and Matthew Carey making it a two point game, six minutes after the restart.
Carey brought it down to one point, a minute later from play. Paddy Moran levelled the game as the match entered the third-quarter.
Louth comeback
However, Louth where far from done. Kieran McArdle landed Louth's first score of the half to level the game with 47 minutes on the clock.
Pearce Grimes Murphy pushed Louth two points clear two minutes later. Indeed, James Maguire converted a 50th minute free to restore Louth's three points lead.
Grimes Murphy made it a four point game with eight minutes to play, fisting the ball over the bar.
Liam Flynn put the game beyond the hosts, finishing to an empty net with six minutes remaining.
Whereas, Michael Flynn sent over two Longford’s free. Two additional frees brought it back to a four point game. Alas it wasn’t to be.
Kieran McArdle’s free, four minutes into injury time sealing Louth’s 3-14 to 2-12 win.
