Offaly defeat Dublin to progress to Leinster U20 Hurling final

The Faithful County will now face Wexford in the decider.

10 May 2023; Cormac Egan of Offaly celebrates after his side's victory in the oneills.com Leinster GAA Hurling U20 Championship Semi-Final match between Offaly and Dublin at Glenisk O'Connor Park in Tullamore, Offaly. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

O’Neills.com Leinster U-20 HC semi-final

OFFALY 1-19 DUBLIN 2-12

Leo O’Connor’s youthful Offaly U-20 side captured yet another huge scalp in Glenisk O’Connor Park on Wednesday night as the Faithful County followed up on their quarter-final win over Galway with a fully-deserved victory over Dublin.

The result moves them just one game away from their first Leinster title at this grade since 2000, and a second All-Ireland final appearance in as many years for the Limerick native and a host of this panel.

The absence of mercurial inside forward Adam Screeney and wing-back Brecon Kavanagh – two of the stars of last year’s minor side that lost out to Tipperary in heartbreaking fashion in the decider – was expected to really hamper them in this game. But a crowd of over 6,000 still filed into the venue, expecting a tenacious and industrious performance, at the very least.

They got that, and so much more. Offaly completely obliterated the Dubs in the physical exchanges and with Mitchell taking responsibility in his stride up front, they were sprinting clear of their opponents by the end, with Conn Rock’s goal on the last play of the game giving a deceptive impression of the game on the scoreboard.

Mia Arthurs, age 7, whose mother is from Offaly and father is from Dublin and her uncle Kieran Coonan is on the Offaly U20 panel, before the oneills.com Leinster GAA Hurling U20 Championship Semi-Final match between Offaly and Dublin at Glenisk O'Connor Park in Tullamore, Offaly. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

With a strong breeze at their backs, the Faithful County were the better team in that opening period, but it was far from certain that their 0-12 to 1-4 interval lead would be enough.

Mitchell, Joe Hoctor, Colin Spain and Dan Bourke all fared well in an attack that was short of the influential Adam Screeney. Dublin had registered a crucial goal in the 14th minute when Ollie Gaffney and Neil Clerkin rose up to meet a sliced shot from Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing that hung in the breeze, with Gaffney appearing to get the decisive flick.

Three frees from Mitchell in the closing minutes of the half gave the home side something to defend, but when Ó Dúlaing, Gaffney and Conroy all points inside the first three minutes of the second half, it looked like the Dubs would power on and score freely.

Instead, Offaly dug their heels in defensively, even after losing impressive wing back Ter Guinan (who had replaced Kavanagh) to injury. Man of the match Sam Bourke anchored the defence superbly, and once they stemmed the bleeding by forcing a couple of speculative, low-percentage shots, momentum shifted decisively back in Offaly’s favour when talisman Cormac Egan sprinted past two defenders and got a shot on the Dublin goal in the 38th minute.

His effort was blocked, but Mitchell was there to sweep the sliotar into an empty net, and from then on, Offaly were exceptional. Mitchell picked off one sublime point from the wing, Dan Ravenhill came off the bench after a lengthy injury to fire over two vital scores, and throughout, Offaly kept the Dubs in a defensive stranglehold, gradually picking off points to louder and louder acclaim from a support that is getting used to big days once again.

They’ll certainly have one next Wednesday night, when they meet Wexford in the provincial final.

Scorers for Offaly: C Mitchell 1-9 (0-5f, 0-1 65), J Hoctor 0-2, C Spain 0-2, D Bourke 0-2, D Ravenhill 0-2 (0-1f), S Bourke 0-1, S Rigney 0-1.

Scorers for Dublin: D Ó Dúlaing 0-5 (0-3f), O Gaffney 1-1, C Rock 1-1, J O’Brien 0-1, N Clerkin 0-1, J Conroy 0-1, S Gallagher 0-1, N Hogan 0-1.

Offaly: M Troy; P Taaffe, B Miller, J Mahon; L Watkins, S Bourke, T Guinan; C Spain, C King; D Bourke, C Egan, C Doyle; S Rigney, J Hoctor, C Mitchell.

Subs: D Ravenhill for Hoctor (half-time), B Egan for Guinan (53), C Bracken for Miller (56).

Dublin: A O'Connor; B Dunne, B Moorhouse-Carroll, D Lucey; C Dolan, J O'Shea, C Ó Ríain; J O'Brien, S Gallagher; B Kenny, D Ó Dúlaing, N Clerkin; C Donovan, J Conroy, O Gaffney.

Subs: C Rock for Clerkin (41), N Hogan for Conroy (41), S Crosbie for O’Brien (43), A Keegan for Dolan (50), C Brennan for Kenny (57).

Referee: E Furlong (Wexford).