Longford had three points to spare against Louth, while 14-man Tipperary and Down could not be separated at Clonmel.

At Pearse Park, in the perennial meeting of Longford and Louth, a strong start sent the midlanders on their way to a 0-16 to 1-10 victory over the Wee County.

With Darren Gallagher unplayable, Padraic Davis’ side moved six points clear only for debutant Gerry Garland to offer the visitors an unlikely lifeline with a 25th-minute palmed goal against the run of play, 0-9 to 1-3.

The gap was back to five by the 48th minute thanks to scores from Rian Brady and Gallagher and the Reds couldn’t get back on terms despite the best efforts of Tommy Durnin, Ryan Burns and Declan Byrne.

Tipp had centre forward Jack Kennedy sent off for a second black-card offence six minutes after the restart but still managed to claim a draw with Down. A run of four unanswered points from captain Conor Sweeney (3) and Liam Boland propelled the hosts into a 0-6 to 0-5 half-time lead, visiting goalkeeper Rory Burns (‘45’) and Owen McCabe equalising either side of a Kennedy reply.

Frees from Sweeney and ‘keeper Evan Comerford had the Premier County two clear with twelve minutes remaining, McCabe closing the scoring in the 65th minute after Burns nailed his second ‘65’.

Longford - P Collum; A Farrell, P Fox, B O’Farrell; I O’Sullivan (0-1), G Rogers, C P Smyth (0-1); D Gallagher (0-5, 3f, 2'45), K Diffley (0-1m); D Reynolds (0-1), D Mimnagh, M Quinn (0-1); R Brady (0-4, 2f), J Hagan, O Kenny. Subs: D Doherty (0-2) for J Hagan, L Connerton for O Kenny, P Lynn for I O’Sullivan.

Louth - C Lynch; D Corcoran, D Campbell, A Mooney; E Carolan, L Jackson, E Callaghan; T Durnin (0-2, 1f), J Califf; G Garland (1-0), C Downey, C McKeever; S Mulroy, D Byrne (0-1m), R Burns (0-5, 4f). Subs: O Murray (0-1) for C McKeever, E Duffy for G Garland, B Duffy for J Califf, C Grimes for S Mulroy, P Matthews (0-1) for D Byrne.

Referee - M McNally.

**

Tipperary - E Comerford (0-2f); A Campbell, J Meagher, C O’Shaughnessy; E Moloney, R Kiely, D Brennan; S O’Brien (0-1), Conal Kennedy; B Maher, J Kennedy (0-1), K Fahey; Liam Boland (0-1f), C Sweeney (0-5, 3f), B Fox. Subs: K O’Halloran for K Fahey, J Lonergan for L Boland, T Nolan for Conal Kennedy, Colman Kennedy for B Maher.

Down - R Burns (0-2'45); G Collins, K McKernan, R McAleenan; S Annett, D O’Hagan, P Fegan; C Poland, S Dornan; C Maginn, B O’Hagan (0-1), D Guinness; D O’Hare (0-3, 1f), O McCabe (0-2), C Quinn (0-1). Subs: P Havern (0-1) for S Dornan, L Kerr for C Maginn, N Donnelly for C Poland, R McGarry for D Guinness, J Flynn for B O’Hagan.

Referee - A Nolan.

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