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Kildare and Westmeath to meet in O'Byrne Cup decider after comfortable semi-final wins
KILDARE AND WESTMEATH will meet in the Dioralyte O’Byrne Cup final this Friday night in Newbridge after the two sides recorded comfortable wins in their semi-final clashes this afternoon and evening.
Ger Brennan continued to deploy a second-string team for Dublin’s trip to St Conleth’s Park and for the opening half an hour they were more than competitive against a Kildare side that had a fair share of recognisable names.
Clyde Burke hit a brace of two-pointers and Jamie McCarville rattled the net to put Dublin 1-10 to 0-10 in front at the break but with both managers going to their bench early and often, Kildare took over after half-time, with Harry O’Neill their goalscorer and Alex Beirne scoring 0-7 in a 1-22 to 1-13 victory.
Westmeath made short work of Offaly at TEG Cusack Park, where the Faithful County had a run of scores either side of half-time but otherwise were outclassed and couldn’t argue with a 5-10 to 2-8 final score.
Mark McHugh’s side cut through the Faithful County in the early stages of the game, putting 1-5 on the board before Offaly finally got off the mark through a Darragh Flynn free.
Danny McCartan finished off Westmeath’s goal at the end of a slick breakaway move and the lead was out to ten points shortly before half-time when Brandon Kelly found the net.
Ciarán Murphy has been a notable addition to the Offaly panel this winter and the Skerries Harps man hit goals either side of half-time, helping to make it 2-8 to 2-5, threatening a tight contest.
Four missed two-point chances cost them however and all of a sudden Westmeath were out of sight when Senan Baker and Danny McCartan hit two goals on consecutive attacks.
In the O’Byrne Shield there was just a point between Wicklow and Longford at Bray Emmets midway through the second half, but the home side powered on to win by 3-16 to 1-11.
Mark Jackson (two) and Eoin Darcy hit doubles and substitute Conor Fee got a late goal, adding to earlier majors from Darcy and Seán Murphy.
Their opponents in the final will be Carlow, who edged out Laois by 2-15 to 3-9 thanks to a late goal from Colm Hulton, the second time in a week that Hulton netted a late winner for his team.
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GAA Leinster football