Both counties have impressed en route to All-ireland U20FC final

Dublin's and Cork's under-20 footballers have shared an impressive path to Saturday's EirGrid All-Ireland U20FC final in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise (4.0).

Dublin made a convincing opening to their championship campaign when overwhelming Longford (4-21 to 0-7) in their Leinster U20FC quarter-final in Glennon Bros Pearse Park, Longford.

Dublin started with intent and by the interval the outcome was in little doubt as they held a 1-15 to 0-2 lead.

From the first whistle Dublin's industry and combination play was superior to that of their hosts with Ciarán Archer hitting the opening three points of the game inside six minutes, including two frees.

That trend continued with points from Ross McGarry, following a Brian O'Leary pass, and Archer again following a great long ball by James Doran.

McGarry's second point, after a purposeful surge from defence by Eoin O'Dea as he combined with fellow corner-back Darren Maher, made it 0-6 to 0-0 after just nine minutes.

Dublin's first of their four goals arrived in the 11th minute when a long free into the danger zone saw Archer break the ball for himself before rifling to the net.

From the resulting Longford kickout Dublin's work-rate turned over Longford leading to a Karl Lynch Bissett point to make it 1-7 to 0-0.

A minute later Archer hit the butt of the upright with the goal at this mercy but a McGarry point extended Dublin's advantage and they never looked back.Second day out against Wexford in Parnell Park Dublin settled into their provincial semi-final with two converted frees from Ciarán Archer and one from play from James Doran following clever play by Kieran Kennedy on the Wexford kickout to lead 0-3 to 0-0 inside seven minutes.

Dublin continued to hold the upperhand but missed some decent scoring opportunities and by the interval were 0-9 to 0-2 clear, having shot nine wides.

Before the break James Doran, Archer (free) and Mark O'Leary, a first cousin of fellow forward Niall, tagged on scores to give Dublin a seven-point interval advantage.

Fifteen seconds into the second half Ciarán Archer struck for the only goal of the night after Donal Ryan had charged through the middle direct from the throw-in.

Archer (free) and Ross McGarry, after making a great fetch from a Kieran Kennedy pass, moved Dublin 1-12 to 0-2 clear by the 39th minute.

Dublin weren't really extended after that though sub Conor Kinsella did kick fine point after running through the heart of the Wexford defence.

In the Leinster U20FC final Dublin began and concluded the game against Laois in a flurry of scores with their opponents reduced to 14 men in the 52nd minute following a straight red card for wing-back Colin Slevin.

Dublin settled immediately to the task with points from Karl Lynch Bissett, Seán Lambe, a Ross McGarry free following a foul on Ciarán Archer, and an Archer point from play to make it 0-4 to 0-0 inside just six minutes.

Despite Dublin's early ascendancy Laois enjoyed a dominant spell around the midpoint of the opening half to lead 0-6 to 0-5 by the 16th minute.

But importantly Dublin reacted well with points from James Doran, Brian O'Leary, Archer (free) and Niall O'Leary following good interplay between the influential Peadar O Cofaigh Byrne and his midfield partner Donal Ryan.

Dublin struck for the first of their four goals in the 24th minute when Archer punished a poor kickout by Matthew Byron before driving the ball low to the net to give Tom Gray's side a 1-9 to 0-6 lead.

An Archer free pushed the gap out to seven points and before the break he converted another free following a foul on O Cofaigh Byrne after the O'Moore County had cut the deficit with scores from Laois senior Mark Barry (free) and Ronan Coffey for Dublin to hold a 1-11 to 0-8 interval lead.

Brian O'Leary opened Dublin's second half account shortly after the restart but Laois hit the next three scores.

In the 42nd minute Archer showed his soccer skills when guiding the ball to the corner of the net after Ross McGarry's initial goal attempt had rebounded in the direction of the Nh Maur's man.

That goal really deflated Laois and gave the Dubs breathing space as they moved 2-13 to 0-12 clear.Seven minutes later the tireless Kieran Kennedy, joint-captain of the side with James Doran, played a one-two with O Cofaigh Byrne before clinically drop-kicking the ball to net and Dublin were out of sight.

In last Saturday's All-Ireland semi-final Dublin made an electric start set them on the road to victory over Galway (2-14 to 1-10) at Pearse Park, Longford.

Dublin hit 2-1 inside the opening six minutes, all from Ciarán Archer, but had to withstand a powerful Galway restart to the second half before progressing to the All-Ireland decider.

Galway hit five unanswered points at the start of the second half to draw level, 2-6 to 1-9, by the 41st minute with Pádraig Costello (two frees), Tony Gill and Rory Cunningham (two points) all on target.

Importantly Dublin got the next score when Ciarán Archer pointed a free after Donal Ryan, who broke forward from midfield to telling effect throughout the game, had been fouled.

Substitute David Lacey made an immediate impact when linking with Seán Lambe before splitting the posts from 40 metres and Dublin had steadied their ship on their way to this Saturday's All-Ireland decider against Cork.

Saturday's opponents have recorded comprehensive victories in the Munster U20FC over Waterford (5-23 to 0-7) and Kerry in their provincial final (3-16 to 0-12) before coming from seven points in arrears early in the second half to defeat Tyrone (2-17 to 1-18) in last Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final.

The Leesiders have tallied a massive 10-56 in their three games to date with their full-forward line of Cathal O'Mahony (2-16, 0-7f), Mark Cronin (2-10, 0-1f) and Damien Gore 1-5 in great scoring form.

DUBLIN U20 FOOTBALLERS: Scoring Chart

Dublin's under-20 footballers have scored 11-70 and conceded 1-40 in their four games to date (wins over Longford, Wexford, Laois and Galway). Twelve players have contributed to their scoring tally.

Ciarán Archer 8-30 (0-23f, 2-0 pen)

Ross McGarry 0-11 (0-3f)

James Doran 0-8

Brian O'Leary 0-8

Harry Ladd 1-2

David Lacey 1-2

Niall O'Leary 0-4

Kieran Kennedy 1-0

Karl Lynch Bissett 0-2

Mark Lavin 0-1

Conor Kinsella 0-1

Seán Lambe 0-1

CORK U20 FOOTBALLERS: Scoring Chart

Cork's under-20 footballers have scored 10-56 and conceded 1-37 in their three games to date (wins over Waterford (5-23 to 0-7), Kerry (3-16 to 0-12) and Tyrone (2-17 to 1-18)). Fifteen players have contributed to their scoring tally.

Cathal O'Mahony 2-16 (0-7f)

Mark Cronin 2-10 (0-1f)

Damien Gore 1-5

Fionn O'Herlihy 1-3

Colm Barrett 0-5

Blake Murphy 1-2

Mark Hodnett 0-4 (0-1f)

Jack Murphy 1-1

Colm O'Callaghan 1-1

Jack McCarthy 1-0

Eanna O'Hanlon 0-2

Brian Hartnett 0-2

Gearóid O'Donovan 0-2

Peter O'Driscoll 0-2

Michael O'Mahony 0-1

-------------------------------------------------------

DUBLIN'S ROUTE TO 2019 ALL-IRELAND U20FC FINAL . . . .

LEINSTER U20FC QUARTER-FINAL

TUESDAY, JULY 2: Glennon Bros Pearse Park, Longford

DUBLIN 4-21 LONGFORD 0-7SCORERS - Dublin: C Archer 2-8 (1-0 pen, 0-5f), H Ladd 1-2, R McGarry 0-4 (0-1f), D Lacey 1-1, J Doran, B O'Leary 0-2 each, K Lynch Bissett, M Lavin 0-1 each. Longford: O Kenny 0-4 (0-3f), J Hagan 0-2 (0-1f), A McGuire 0-1.

DUBLIN: D O'Hanlon; D Maher, D Newcombe, E O'Dea; K Kennedy, N Matthews, S Lambe; P O Cofaigh, D Ryan; N O'Leary, K Lynch Bissett, J Doran; B O'Leary, C Archer, R McGarry. Subs: H Ladd for McGarry (ht), A Lynch for Maher (42), M Lavin for N O'Leary (42), D Conlon for Matthews (48), D Lacey for Doran (48), S Farrelly for O Cofaigh Byrne (56).

LONGFORD: P Murray; G Hughes, PJ Masterson, D Corcoran; E McCormack, P Duggan, S Farrell; N Farrelly, D O'Brien; G Flynn, J Hagan, K Gilmore; O Kenny, A McGuire, J Shiels. Subs: D Ciglianio for Farrell (25), E Keogh for Gilmore (ht), P Molloy for Shiels (34), S Campbell for Duggan (35), J Martin for Flynn (38), E Smyth for Corcoran (56).

REF: F Smyth (Offaly).

-----------------------------

LEINSTER U20FC SEMI-FINAL

TUESDAY, JULY 9: Parnell Park

DUBLIN 1-17 WEXFORD 0-6

SCORERS - Dublin: C Archer 1-8 (0-7f), N O'Leary, B O'Leary, J Doran, R McGarry (0-1f) 0-2 each, C Kinsella 0-1. Wexford: M Molloy 0-2, J Myler (0-1f), S Nolan, C Kavanagh, D Brooks (0-1f) 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: D O'Hanlon; D Maher, D Newcombe, E O'Dea; K Kennedy, N Matthews, S Lambe; P O Cofaigh Byrne, D Ryan; N O'Leary, K Lynch Bissett, J Doran; B O'Leary, C Archer, R McGarry. Subs: K McKeon for McGarry (40), C Kinsella for Matthews (48), D Lacey for Lynch Bissett (48), A Lynch for O'Dea (53), S Farrelly for O Cofaigh Byrne (58), E Caulfield for N O'Leary (59).

WEXFORD: D Brooks; K Pierce, G Sheehan, L O'Connor; B Byrne, A Hogan, E Minouge; B Maddock, L Coleman; D McVeigh, J Myler, S Nolan; M Molloy, S Forde, C Kavanagh. Subs: C Kirwan for Hogan (ht), J Kelly for McVeigh (ht), P Kelly for Forde (50), M Kinsella for Byrne (56), P Dempsey for Minouge (61), J Kavanagh for Pierce (61).

REF: C Reilly (Meath).

---------------------------------

LEINSTER U20FC FINAL

FRIDAY, JULY 19: O'Connor Park, Tullamore

DUBLIN 4-18 LAOIS 0-17

SCORERS - Dublin: C Archer 3-8 (1-0 pen, 0-7f), J Doran 0-3, K Kennedy 1-0, B O'Leary, R McGarry (0-1f) 0-2 each, K Lynch Bissett, S Lambe, N O'Leary 0-1 each. Laois: D Whelan 0-8 (0-6f), A Kinsella, M Barry (0-1f) 0-2 each, M Doran, R Coffey, J Owens, E Dunne, N Dunne 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: D O’Hanlon; D Maher, D Newcombe, E O’Dea; K Kennedy, N Matthews, S Lambe; P Ó Cofaigh Byrne, D Ryan; N O’Leary, K Lynch Bissett, J Doran; B O’Leary, C Archer, R McGarry. Subs: D Lacey for Ryan (43), H Ladd for B O'Leary (55), A Lynch for Maher (55), C Kinsella for O'Dea (58), M Lavin for N O'Leary (60), S Foran for Kennedy (60), K Lynch Bissett (bc, 66).

LAOIS: M Byron; M Dowling, S Lacey, A Mohan; C Slevin, S O’Flynn, D Brophy; R Tyrell, E Dunne; M Barry, M Doran, R Coffey; A Kinsella, D McCormack, D Whelan. Subs: J Owens for Doran (37), N Dunne for McCormack (38), J Maher for Coffey (48), K Byrne for Lacey (55), R Brennan for Brophy (58), J Lacey for Mohan (58).

REF: B Cawley (Kildare).

-----------------------------------

ALL-IRELAND U20FC SEMI-FINAL

SATURDAY, JULY 27: Pearse Park, Longford

DUBLIN 2-14 GALWAY 1-10

SCORERS - Dublin: C Archer 2-6 (0-4f), R McGarry 0-3, B O’Leary 0-2, D Lacey, N O’Leary, J Doran 0-1 each. Galway: T Gill, P Costello (0-2f) 0-3 each, B Harlowe 1-0, R Cunningham 0-2, M Tierney, L Boyle 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: D O'Hanlon; D Maher, D Newcombe, N Mattews; K Kennedy, E O'Dea, S Lambe; P Ó Cofaigh Byrne, D Ryan; N O'Leary, K Lynch Bissett, J Doran; B O'Leary, C Archer, R McGarry. Subs: D O'Leary for Ryan (46), A Lynch for Maher (45), H Ladd for B O'Leary (63).

GALWAY: O Burke; R Mahon, S Mulkerrin, E McFadden; L Boyle, C Potter, J Kirrane; M Tierney, M Barrett; B Harlowe, L Costello, T Gill; D Silke, P Costello, R Cunningham. Subs: J Glynn for Kirrane (7), C Newell for Harlowe (29), C Campbell for Potter (40), M O'Brien for Glynn (48), E Mannion for Gill (50), B O'Connell for L Costello (58).

REF: P Hughes (Armagh).