All-Ireland SFC: Fourteen-man Louth stun Monaghan to reach first semi-final since 1957

Louth defied an early red card to stun neighbours Monaghan and reach the All-Ireland semi-finals for the first time since 1957 with an epic 0-27 to 2-18 win at Croke Park.

Louth played for over an hour with 14 men after midfielder Sean Callaghan was sent off after just seven minutes, while the Farney men were without the services of hugely influential goalkeeper Rory Beggan, who was ruled out just before throw-in through injury.

Monaghan scored goals through Oisin McGorman and Stephen O'Hanlon, but the Ulster finalists were bested by a courageous Louth display.

Gavin Devlin's Louth will play Mayo in the All-Ireland semi-finals which will be played in two weeks' time.

Monaghan's exit means there will be no Ulster representation in the semi-finals for the first time since 2016.

The news all Monaghan fans feared was confirmed ahead of throw-in as captain Beggan was ruled out through injury. In his absence, under-20 skipper Jamie Mooney was handed his senior inter-county debut between the posts.

Despite the setback, the game could not have got off to a better start for the Farney men who raced into an early 0-4 to 0-0 lead as Conor McCarthy nailed a two-pointer before a brace from Andrew Woods.

It went from bad to worse for Louth within that scoring burst as midfielder Sean Callaghan was shown a straight red card for a high shoulder challenge on Aaron Carey after just seven minutes.

However, the Leinster side launched an immediate response, hitting the next four scores. James Maguire and Sam Mulroy got them off the mark on nine minutes, before a two-point effort from Dara McDonnell restored parity.

Louth should have had a goal from the next play. Craig Lennon was sent through by Mulroy, but his effort from the edge of the six-yard box was saved by the legs of debutant Mooney.

That save swung the pendulum back towards the Ulster men, and when Stephen O'Hanlon weaved through the Louth defence, he set up McGorman to dummy past Niall McDonnell and find the net.

But Louth hit back with five unanswered scores as Burns, Mulroy and Maguire all pointed before Ciaran Downey split the posts from outside the arc with the last kick of the half to give the Wee County a 0-12 to 1-7 lead at the break.

Louth carried their momentum into the start of the second half with Dara McDonnell and Kieran McArdle pointing to stretch their lead out to four.

Jack McCarron, quiet throughout the first half, eventually made his presence felt with a two-point free for Monaghan's first score in over 12 minutes to stop the rot.

Some wayward shooting from Monaghan helped Louth, who reeled off another four unanswered scores to establish a five-point cushion with 20 minutes left.

With their summer slipping away, Monaghan launched another recovery. McCarron raised his second orange flag, before Stephen Mooney squared the ball across the face of goal for O'Hanlon to bravely punch to the net and level proceedings entering the final quarter.

With their tails up, Monaghan went ahead through Bannigan before McArdle had an effort on goal cannon off the crossbar.

Tadhg McDonnell levelled once again to setup a grandstand finish with 10 to play.

Then came the decisive blow from Louth as Ciaran Byrne fired over a quickfire double before a Burns effort sealed a famous Louth win.

Monaghan: Rory Beggan; Ryan Wylie, Killian Lavelle, Dylan Byrne; Dessie Ward, Ryan O'Toole, Conor McCarthy (0-3 1x2pt); Michael McCarville, Oisin McGorman (1-0); Aaron Carey, Michael Bannigan (0-4 1f), Stephen O'Hanlon (1-0); Jack McCarron (0-5 1x2pt, 1x2ptf), Andrew Woods (0-4), Ryan McAnespie.

Subs: Stephen Mooney (0-1) for R McAnespie (41), Max Maguire (0-1) for C Early (49), Darragh McElearney for O McGorman (56), David Garland for A Woods (63), Robbie Hanratty for D Ward (66)

Louth: Niall McDonnell; Emmet Carolan, Donal McKenny (0-1), Daire Nally; Conal McKeever, Dara McDonnell (0-3 1x2pt), Craig Lennon (0-1); Conor Early (0-1), Sean Callaghan; James Maguire (0-3), Sam Mulroy (0-5 2f), Conor Grimes; Kieran McArdle (0-1), Ciaran Downey (0-2 1x2pt), Ryan Burns (0-4).

Subs: Tadgh McDonnell (0-3) for C McKeever (41), Paul Matthews for C Grimes (43), Tommy Durnin for C Early (55), Ciaran Byrne (0-3) for K McArdle (56), Ciaran Keenan for J Maguire (66)