Adam Screeney masterclass leads Offaly past Laois and into Leinster U20 semi-final

Offaly’s Adam Screeney in action.  Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ken Sutton

Oneills.com Leinster U-20 Hurling Championship quarter-final: Offaly 1-28 Laois 2-9 

Offaly look to be gathering momentum in the U-20 championship once again, with over 2,000 supporters filing into O’Connor Park to watch Adam Screeney lead yet another scoring masterclass for the Faithful County tonight.

Leo O’Connor’s side came into the game on the back of four weeks off but they certainly didn’t show it, exploding out of the blocks with five sumptuous points from play in the opening three minutes, including majestic scores from the sideline from Barry Egan and Screeney.

Their hurling was far sharper and more precise than that of Laois, who travelled with some optimism but never had the chance to get into the game.

Midfielder Colin Spain had his third of the game when he split the uprights in the eighth minute to make it 0-8 to 0-1, and even at that early juncture, there was little or no doubt about the result.

For all the home side’s brilliance up front, they were no less impressive in defence, where James Mahon had a solid outing up against Laois senior star Jer Quinlan, and there were moments of steel and quality from Rúairí Kelly and Ter Guinan.

Laois made little or no headway at the top end of the pitch until shortly before half time, when sweeper Cormac Hogan pushed up and got on the end of a breaking ball and fed it across to Cormac Byrne for the game’s opening goal.

Even then, Offaly’s response was perfect, with team captain Dan Bourke pointing on the next attack, while Adam Screeney’s ninth of the half made it 0-18 to 1-4 at the break.

There was a real lull in Offaly’s performance in the ten minutes after half-time, and two monster scores from distance from Hogan, as well as a second goal from Byrne, suddenly hinted at the possibility of a comeback from Laois.

But without ever catching fire as they did in the opening half hour, Offaly quietly set about their work and four consecutive points from Screeney pushed them out of sight again.

A goal from Dan Bourke and a red card for Laois wing back Tom Cuddy were footnotes late in the game as Laois visibly faded out of the game, allowing Offaly to drop the pace and still control proceedings through to the final whistle.

Scorers for Offaly: A Screeney 0-15 (0-11f), D Bourke 1-3, S Rigney 0-4, C Spain 0-3 (0-1 sideline), A Kavanagh 0-2, B Egan 0-1.

Scorers for Laois: Cormac Byrne 2-1, C Comerford 0-2, C Hogan 0-2, J Quinlan 0-1, Colin Byrne 0-1, J Cuddy 0-1f.

OFFALY: L Hoare; R Kelly, B Miller, J Mahon; T Guinan, B Kavanagh, D Shirley; C Spain, C King; S Rigney, D Bourke, C Doyle; L Kavanagh, B Egan, A Screeney.

Subs used: M Dalton for Doyle (43), A Kavanagh for L Kavanagh (45), E Burke for Spain (53), P Taaffe for Mahon (55), C Larkin for Egan (58).

LAOIS: B O’Reilly; D Dooley, C Cuddy, C Flynn; T Brennan, E Cuddy, T Cuddy; C Comerford, C Hogan; C Fitzpatrick, J Breen, B Deegan; J Quinlan, Colin Byrne, Cormac Byrne.

Subs used: A Phelan for Deegan (half-time), J Duggan for Fitzpatrick (37), J Cuddy for Breen (45), J Pearson for C Cuddy (48), J Hyland for Colin Byrne (60+2).

REFEREE: Matthew Redmond (Kildare).