Louth were crowned Leinster JFC winners for the first time since 1966 at Pearse Park last night when they had five points to spare over Longford in their replayed final. Louth 1-12 Longford...0-10 After being reeled in by Longford in the closing stages of the drawn encounter at Croke Park 10 days ago, Louth made no mistake at the second time of asking, with Conor Rafferty's penalty 10 minutes from the end settling the issue. Played before a 2,000-strong attendance, the home side made a bright start to the game and established an early 0-4 to 0-2 lead. But three points Hugh McGinn points and another brace from Kevin Rogers ensured Louth of a 0-7 to 0-4 interval lead. With Padraig McKeon in fine scoring form, Longford resumed with four unanswered points to regain the lead before McGinn brought Louth level in the 37th minute. Eamonn McEnaney's charges went from strength to strength after that to end their long wait for provincial honours in the grade, and secure an All-Ireland semi-final date with Cork. Louth - S Connor; T Costello, C Goss, K Moran; S Brennan, G Moran, P Nixon; R Brennan, D Devenney (0-1); C Rafferty (1-0, pen), JJ Quigley, C Matthews; K Rogers (0-4, 1f), H McGinn (0-6, 2f), N Conlon (0-1). Subs: D Byrne for S Brennan (42), D Matthews for Quigley (50), W Reilly for Rafferty (58), E Carroll for Rogers (59), N Mackin for K Moran (62). Longford - S Watters; F Brady, M Duffy, N Vance; J McEntire, F Kavanagh, J Kane; P Reynolds, K Diffley; P Gill (0-1), S Cox, T Clendenning (0-1); P McKeon (0-6, 3f), P Shanley (0-1), C Flynn (0-1, 1f). Subs: G Murtagh for Vance (34), S Doyle for Cox (42), S Philips for Shanley (47), J McCormack for Flynn (52), F Kelly for Reynolds (56). Ref - D Brazil (Offaly) Tweet

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