DAVY BURKE was delighted to be leaving Louth with two points after his Roscommon side withstood a Wee County fightback.
The Rossies made it two Division 2 wins on the spin at Drogheda’s Integral GAA Grounds, with boss Burke beaming: “Winning on the road is massive.
“Digging it out — I’m delighted we didn’t win by seven or eight points or whatever it was with five minutes to go. Because we will get far more out of that, far more character-building out of that.
“With two-pointers and three-pointers there is no switching off.
“Louth took Armagh to the 74th minute in the first round of the league last year. Winning on the road in the league builds huge confidence with a very young squad.
“Look at Pearse Frost, Colm Neary. We have more defenders now.”
Roscommon looked to be coasting when midfielder Keith Doyle finished off a move to the net to put them six points clear with eight minutes remaining.
Substitute Ben O’Carroll and in-form attacker Ciaráin Murtagh pushed it out to eight before Louth made a late surge.
On their return to Drogheda after five years, debutant Val Leddy gave the home crowd something to cheers with a goal after Ciarán Downey hit a two-pointer.
But Louth ran out of time and boss Ger Brennan rued their slow start and accuracy, especially in the first half, after which Roscommon led 0-10 to 0-5.
The ex-Dublin ace said: “When you look at the shot-to-score ratio, I think we were 37 per cent and Roscommon 67 per cent. That tells its own story.”
ROSCOMMON: C Carroll; N Higgins, P Frost, C Neary; B Stack, S Cunnane 0-1m, J McManus; E Nolan, K Doyle 1-0; S Killoran, C Murtagh 0-4, E Smith 0-1; D Murtagh 0-6, 1f, 1tpf, D Smith 0-2, D Cregg 0-1f. Subs: S Lambe for Nolan 49mins; C McKeon for Killoran 52; U Harney for D Smith 57; R Fallon for McManus blood 57; Ben O’Carroll 0-1 for Cregg 62; C Cox 0-1 for D Murtagh 70.
LOUTH: N McDonnell; D Campbell, P Lynch, D McKenny; C McKeever, E Carolan, C Lennon 0-1; T Durnin, D McDonnell 0-1; A McDonnell 0-1, S Mulroy 0-8, 4f, 2tpf, C Murphy; D McConnon, C Downey 0-3, 1tp, S Reynolds. Subs: T McDonnell for Lennon 3mins; P Grimes Murphy for Murphy 39; K McArdle 0-1 for Reynolds 43; L Jackson for Carolan 49; V Leddy 1-0 for McConnon 62.
REFEREE: C Dourneen (Cavan).
