Dublin 4-15
Louth 0-10
Bernard Brogan struck 2-7 as Dublin cruised to a comfortable victory over Louth in Drogheda yesterday.
Dublin’s progression to the O’Byrne Cup final was never really in doubt in this semi-final clash as they set their tone from the outset.
Brogan had bagged two goals in the opening 11 minutes of the game to send Dublin into a 2-3 to 0-1 lead.
And by the interval their position had improved further with Emmett Ó Conghaile fortuitously finding the net in the 21st minute and another youngster Paul Hudson raising a fourth green flag just before half-time.
Dublin lead by 4-8 to 0-7 at the interval with Jim McEnaney’s haul of four points helping to keep Louth in touch.
Yet they were never able to make much headway in the second-half. A McEnaney point in the 46th minute saw the gap trimmed to 11 points but then Louth failed to score for the remainder of the game as Dublin strung together six unanswered points.
Youngster Jack McCaffrey impressed as he grabbed his second point of the game and last year’s All-Ireland minor winner Cormac Costello came off the bench for his first senior appearance, an occasion he marked by kicking a point.
Scorers
Dublin: Bernard Brogan 2-7 (0-7f), Emmett Ó Conghaile 1-1, Paul Hudson 1-0, Jack McCaffrey 0-2, Stephen Cluxton (0-1 ’45), Paddy Andrews, Paddy Quinn, Diarmuid Connolly, Cormac Costello 0-1 each.
Louth: Jim McEnaney 0-5 (0-4f), David Reid 0-2, Conor Rafferty, Sean McCann, Danny O’Connor 0-1 each.
Bernard Brogan of Dublin with John Bigham of Louth. Pic: INPHO/Donall Farmer
Kildare 1-12
Offaly 1-9
Kildare qualified for their third successive O’Byrne Cup final when they prevailed against Offaly in Tullamore yesterday afternoon.
3,475 patrons were in attendance in O’Connor Park for a game that ended in dramatic fashion as 14-man Kildare, who had Mikey Conway sent-off, were nearly pegged back only for Niall McNamee to strike a late penalty wide for Offaly.
The Faithful built on their impressive early season form to get off to a flying start as Eoin Carroll knocked the ball to the net for the first score of the game. They maintained that drive with Ross Brady’s 19th minute point pushing them into a 1-3 to 0-2 lead.
But by the interval the teams were level at 1-4 apiece after Conway had found the net for Kildare from the penalty spot.
The second-half was evenly-balanced in the early stages with the teams tied at 1-7 apiece when Conway was dismissed for a second yellow card offence.
But Kildare, with Seanie Johnston sparkling in attack on his starting debut for the county as he shot 0-7 overall, forged ahead by 1-12 to 1-9 with three minutes remaining.
Offaly then had a glorious chance to draw level but despite McNamee sending Kildare goalkeeper Shane Connolly the wrong way, the ball went wide of the post and Kildare held on for success.
Scorers:
Kildare: Seanie Johnston 0-7 (0-4f), Mikey Conway 1-0 (1-0 pen), Eoghan O’Flaherty 0-2, Cathal McNally, Emmet Bolton, Paudie O’Neill 0-1 each
Offaly: Niall McNamee 0-5 (0-4), Eoin Carroll 1-0, Ross Brady (0-1f), Anton Sullivan, Peter Cunningham, Derek Kelly 0-1 each
