Just as with their footballing colleagues, the Louth hurlers went down to Monaghan on a 0-15 to 1-11 scoreline in Aughnamullen on Sunday.
The Wee County looked set for their first victory of the season when they led by two points with just two minutes remaining. However, Monaghan managed to draw level before landing a winning point with the last puck of the game.
A Gerard Smyth goal had given Diarmuid McCarthy’s side a 1-6 to 0-4 lead at the break and that looked like it would prove enough in the end until the Farney men struck for the closing three points to turn the game on its head.
Louth now face Longford at home next weekend in a real battle to avoid relegation.
LOUTH: Rory O’Reilly; Andy McCrave, Brian Carter, Conor Kerrigan; Cathal Ryan, Cian Hayes, Ronan Byrne 0-2; Shane Callan 0-1, Jason Condon; Andy Mackin, Gary Rellis, Gerard Smyth 1-1; David O’Mahony 0-1, Diarmuid Murphy 0-5, David Kettle 0-1. Subs: Shane Maguire for G Rellis, Darren O’Hanrahan for G Smyth.
Completing a hat-trick of Monaghan wins over Louth at the weekend, the Monaghan minor hurlers beat the Wee County by 7-27 to 0-2 in the Ulster Minor Hurling League in Inniskeen on Saturday.
