Louth punish wasteful Kildare to make Leinster decider

Louth have made a little piece of history by qualifying for back-to-back Leinster SFC finals for the first time since 1958 - and supporters will hope to keep the party going on Monday evening.

Seven points from captain Sam Mulroy and another powerful display from forward colleague Conor Grimes helped the Wee County to secure their return to Croke Park on 12 May.

They will play Dublin or Offaly in the provincial decider while Kildare, out of sorts and struggling badly for inspiration, will head to the Tailteann Cup for the very first time.

It's boom time for Louth GAA as their Under-20s are also through to the provincial decider and will take on Meath at nearby Parnell Park tomorrow.

They never looked like losing this senior semi-final and led from the 22nd minute of the game until full-time.

Mulroy and Grimes fired nine points between them while Ciaran Downey and Craig Lennon popped up with terrific scores too.

The cherry on top for manager Ger Brennan, who has stepped impressively into the giant boots left by Mickey Harte, was the return to action of Ciaran Byrne in the second half.

The former AFL player hadn't featured for Louth in well over a year due to a cruciate knee ligament injury suffered early in last year's league campaign.

Louth returned to GAA HQ armed with momentum following their four-goal quarter-final defeat of Wexford and also had the better Allianz Football League record.

They retained their Division 2 status over spring and concluded that campaign with a three-point win over Kildare who were relegated to Division 3.

Louth beat Kildare in last year's league campaign also so came into this provincial semi-final against the Lilywhites in the novel position of being favourites.

They justified that tag with a strong