Dublin and Kildare progress to Leinster Minor Football final
SIX OF THE BEST: Dublin’s Luke O’Boyle scores a goal. Pic Credit ©INPHO/Evan Treacy
The 2023 Electric Ireland Leinster minor football final will be a repeat of last year’s pairing, and Dublin laid down a marker that they are in no mood to relinquish their title with a devastating defeat of Offaly at Glenisk O’Connor Park on Wednesday night.
The young boys in blue set the tone for this semi-final by crashing home two goals in the first two minutes, and any lingering hopes that Offaly might have entertained of pulling off an upset win were dashed late in the first half when another quickfire brace meant they trailed by 11 points at half-time, 4-4 to 1-2.
It was a night where Dublin were clinical up front, ruthlessly punishing errors from the home side, while their direct running and straight line speed through the middle third caused Offaly no end of problems.
A soccer-style finish from Paddy Curry and a powerful low drive from Harry Curley got the Dubs off to a dream start, though Offaly gave themselves a lifeline when they replied with a Cian Bracken goal in the tenth minute, following an incisive run from midfielder Callum Kelly.
Lenny Cahill showed his talent with a couple of wonderful points, but Offaly were still in the hunt up until the 26th minute, when a misplaced clearance allowed Noah Byrne to dart in on goal and fire in goal number three. Two minutes later, a mishit free across their own goal allowed Curry to intercept and pick out the bottom corner with a precise finish, and the Dubs’ lead was out to double figures.
Offaly made one last surge after half-time when Cameron Egan opened the scoring and they soon had a penalty when Cillian Bourke was dragged down as he attempted to shoot for a goal.
But Cillian Murray stepped up with a superb save to block Kaelem Bryan’s penalty, and further goals from Curley and Luke O’Boyle followed for a rampant Dublin side.
It was all very different at Hawkfield, where Kildare had the bare minimum to spare at the end of a tense and thrilling contest against Meath. Two midfielders – Kildare’s Joey Cunningham and Meath’s Cian Commons – were the real stars of the show, shooting 0-4 and 0-5 respectively, with Commons hitting three points early to help Meath lead 0-4 to 0-2 after 12 minutes.
The second and third quarters belonged to Kildare however as the Lilywhites took over defensively, and eked their way in front through a series of long-range dead ball strikes from goalkeeper Cathal Moore, as well as points from Cunningham, Donnchadh Kinch and Evan Donnelly.
After falling four points behind, Meath rallied in the last ten minutes and twice got within a point, but the clock ultimately beat them as Kildare held out for an 0-13 to 0-12 win.
H Curley 2-1, P Curry 2-0, L Cahill 0-6 (0-2f), N Byrne 1-0, L O’Boyle 1-0, S Mullarkey 0-3, S Ryan 0-2, J Young 0-1, C McAweeney 0-1, A O’Reilly 0-1 (45).
C Bracken 1-0, R Carney 0-2 (0-1f), B Carroll 0-2, F Carney 0-1f, C Egan 0-1, A Molloy 0-1, N Flannery 0-1.
C Murray; S Keogh, C Emmett, J O’Sullivan; J Young, E Costello, R Mitchell; S Ryan, A Carolan; P Coleman, L O’Boyle, N Byrne; L Cahill, H Curley, P Curry.
S Mullarkey for Curry (half-time), N O’Brien for O’Boyle (42), A O’Reilly for Carolan (46), B Kennedy for Coleman (48), C McAweeney for Byrne (51).
D Keoghan; P Kenna, N Flannery, H Goulding; B Carroll, C McKeon, R Grehan; C Bourke, C Kelly; R Carney, C Bracken, C Egan; C Foran, K Bryan, F Carney.
A Molloy for Bryan (38), D Bates for Kelly (43), A Rattigan for Foran (46), C Weldon for Egan (51).
S Fagan (Wicklow).
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