Louth - 1-11 Kildare - 1-8

Louth staged a second-half recovery to overcome home side Kildare at Ballymore on Saturday.

Kildare made the more impressive start and led 0-3 to no score after seven minutes. Paul McCormack had their only goal when he reacted quickly to a rebound from the crossbar and Kildare led 1-5 to 0-5 at half-time.

Louth had the wind advantage for the second half and recorded three unanswered points in the early stages. Kildare were unfortunate to miss a goal when McCormack hit the crossbar, but Louth drew level through an Alan Doherty point.

Louth managed to restore their lead before Louth pressure was rewarded when Gerry Curran scored the all-important goal.

Louth: C Nally; G O'Neill, B Keenan, R Rooney; J Finnegan, J Donaldson, C Grimes; E Carr, K Reilly; A Doherty (0-5), C O'Hanlon, M Stansfield (0-3); P Kelly, P Butterly, J Moroney (0-1). Subs: M Farrelly (0-2) for Carr; D Sullivan for Mooney; G Curran (1-0) for Kelly; A Hoey for Reilly.

Kildare: P Flood; E Mulhall, R Quinn, D Maher; B Lacey, M Ryan, B Moylan; D Earley, A Rainbow; P McCormack (1-1), G Keane (0-2), J Whelan; D Behan (0-1), B Murphy (0-1), L Ryan (0-2). Subs: P Brennan (0-1) for Behan; P Gravin for Whelan; D McCormack for Maher

Referees: J Bannon (Longford) and N Cooney (Offaly).