Marty Kavanagh's injury-time point gave Carlow a 2-17 apiece draw with London at Ruislip this afternoon.

The Barrowsiders were given the fright of their lives by Tommy Harrell's determined Exiles and were staring defeat in the face as they trailed by four points with eight minutes left. But a run of four unanswered scores gave John Meyler's team a share of the spoils.

Carlow led by 2-2 to 0-4 after 15 minutes (with St Mullins clubman Kavanagh netting both goals) but London battled back to lead by three points at the break, 1-11 to 2-5, with Luke Hand slotting their first-half major.

The Exiles kicked on in the second half and - boosted by Martin Duggan's brilliant 38th-minute goal - they led by seven points eight minutes after the restart, 2-14 to 2-7, but Carlow never gave up and Kavanagh slotted a dramatic equaliser two minutes into added time.

The result means that both teams have a point apiece after one outing in the round-robin section of the Leinster SHC and this is realistically of little use to either camp with stern challenges yet to come against Laois, Antrim and Westmeath.

It doesn't get any easier for these two teams: next up for Carlow is a home clash with Antrim next Sunday, while London's next outing is also against the Saffrons, at Ballycastle on Sunday week.

London - J Barrett; C McAlinden, R Foy, C Hickey; E Cooney, PJ Rowe, D Egan; D Moore (0-1), E Kelly (0-6, 5f, 1'65); S Lambert (0-2f), P Phelan (0-3), H Vaughan (0-3); K Walsh, M Duggan (1-1), L Hands (1-0). Subs: P Barry (0-1) for S Lambert, S Frawley for D Egan, M Holohan for D Moore.

Carlow - B Treacy; HP O'Byrne, P Doyle, G Kelly; A Corcoran, R Coady (0-1), D Byrne; D English (0-1), C Wall (0-1); J Doyle (0-2), E Byrne, A Gaule (0-1); M Kavanagh (2-2), S Murphy (0-3, 1f), D Murphy (0-3, 2f). Subs: J Kavanagh (0-3) for A Gaule, P Coady for D Byrne, C Lawlor for D Murphy.

Referee - C Browne. Tweet

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