For the third game in succession Kildare finished out the game without the full compliment of players after Brian Flanagan was sent off in the 46th minute. The Johns-townbridge man received a second yellow card for a high challenge on Aaron Hoey and
Meath referee Cormac Reilly had no options but to send Flanagan for an early shower.
The dismissal gave Louth the impetus to go on and grind out a victory and when spare man Declan Byrne scored a fortuitous goal with three minutes of normal time remaining Kildare appeared to throw in the towel despite only being two points in arrears.
The men from the Wee County tagged on a further three points after grabbing the goal to comfortably prevail by five points when the final whistle was sounded.
There were some positives to take from the encounter however and one was the performance of Gary White. The Sarsfields man was far and above Kildare's best player on the day and he is really starting to make the full back berth his own.
In the middle of the park Dermot Earley worked like the proverbial Trojan, while Keith Cribbin showed much improvement on his two earlier performances in the same competition.
Until Louth's aforementioned goal this was a tight encounter and extra time looked like a real possibility. At the interval only the bare minimum separated the sides with Kildare leading 0-8 to 0-7 and it was nip and tuck right up until the goal.
The visitors, under the tutelage of Peter Fitzpatrick, began well and scored three early points without response courtesy of Brian White (free), wing back Ray Finnegan and Colin Judge (free).
Dermot Earley got Kildare off the mark in the fifth minute with a fine point after he collected possession from Anthony Rainbow and a minute later the deficit was down to just one when new boy Ronan Walsh struck over from a somewhat difficult angle on the right.
Parity was soon restored thanks to a Rob Kelly point from the 40 metre mark just before Maynooth Karl Ennis edged the Lilywhites ahead for the first time in the game.
That lead was short-lived however because when Emmet Bolton was penalised for fouling off the ball and Colin Judge duly sent over the resulting free kick to leave the score at 0-4 to 0-4.
The sides swapped points on 24 and 28 minutes respectively, Louth's point indeed a very impressive one from the boot of Brian White. However what White could do Dermot Earley could do better because second later he fired over a peach of a point to nudge the Lilywhites ahead once more.
Before the half time whistle Keith Cribbin got in on the scoring act, Walsh added to his tally, while Andy McDonnell added a brace for the visitors to leave the interlude score at 0-8 to 0-7.
After the turnaround Padraig O'Neill got in on the scoring act to add to Kildare's lead, while Rob Kelly raised a white flag to leave McGeeney's side leading 0-10 to 0-7 just three minutes in. However, things took a turn for the worst when Flanagan was shown a second yellow. At that point Kildare were leading 0-11 to 0-10 but Louth took full advantage of the sending off, were level by the 55th minute and indeed hit the front, thanks to a JP Rooney point (free), in the 58th minute.
McGeeney's men re-sponded with a lovely point from veteran Anthony Rain out on the right wing but the killer blow was on the horizon.
Louth's goal was a lucky one but goalkeeper Shane McCormack should have done better. Spare man Ray Finnegan shot for a point but his effort hit the bar and went in over McCormack's head and in to the right hand corner of the net. The goal left the scoreboard reading 1-13 to 0-14 and Kildare heads went down.
Just to be sure Colin Judge sent over a free and further points from Ronan Carroll and substitute Shane Carroll sealed the win for the men in red and white.
It might only be the O'Byrne Cup, it might not matter in the grand scheme of things but Kildare's performance was lack lustre and it's vital they up the ante for the visit of Down to Newbridge this Sunday.
Scorers: Louth, Colin Judge 0-4 (4f), Ray Finnegan 1-1, Brian White 0-3 (2f), Ronan Carroll 0-2, Andy McDonnell 0-2, JP Rooney 0-2 (1f), Declan Byrne 0-1, Shane Lennon 0-1.
Kildare, Karl Ennis 0-3 (1f), Dermot Earley 0-2, Ronan Walsh 0-2, Rob Kelly 0-2, Keith Cribbin 0-1, Padraig O?Neill 0-1, Emmet Bolton 0-1, Anthony Rainbow 0-1, James Kavanagh 0-1.
Louth:
Neil Gallagher; Declan Byrne, Dessie Finnegan, Ronan Greene; Ray Finnegan, Aaron Hoey, John O'Brien; Paddy Keegan, Ronan Carroll; Derek Crilly, Andy McDonnell, Derek Maguire; Colin Judge, JP Rooney, Brian White. Subs: Mark Brennan replaced D Maguire 38 mins, Paraic Smith replaced B White 51 mins, Shane Lennon replaced A McDonnell 68 mins, Adrian Reid replaced D Crilly 70 mins.
Kildare:
Shane McCormack; Andrew McLoughlin, Gary White, Emmet Bolton; Mick Foley, Brian Flanagan, Anthony Rainbow; Daryl Flynn, Dermot Earley; David Whyte, Rob Kelly, Padraig O'Neill; Keith Cribbin, Karl Ennis, Ronan Walsh. Subs: David Lyons replaced E Bolton 44 mins, James Kavanagh replaced R Walsh 48 mins, Ronan Sweeney replaced P O'Neill 52 mins, Hughie Lynch replaced K Cribbin 61 mins.
Referee:
Cormac Reilly (Meath).
