Dublin Beat Offaly To Seal Walsh Cup Final Place

Sun, 23rd January 2022

Dublin 2-23

Offaly 1-20

Dublin’s Senior Hurlers are into the Walsh Cup Final, after a hard fought win over Offaly at St Brendan’s Park, Birr on Sunday afternoon.

Dublin trailed at half-time but an improved second-half performance sealed the victory and a place in the decider.

Fergal Whitely came racing out of the blocks for Dublin, shooting three good scores inside the opening four minutes.

In a frantic start, James Madden was black carded for Dublin for denying Offaly a goal scoring opportunity, though the Faithful County missed the resulting penalty.

They recovered, however, and a Brian Duignan goal pushed Offaly ahead on the 15-minute mark.

Dublin responded shortly afterwards with a goal of their own- Cian O’Sullivan playing in Ronan Hayes after a good run, with Hayes finishing well to ensure Dublin only trailed by the minimum at the first water break.

In an even contest for much of the first half, scores from Rian McBride, Davy Keogh, Cian O’Sullivan, Danny Sutcliffe & Daire Gray kept Dublin’s score tally ticking over.

Offaly, however, finished the half with four points in-a-row to lead at the break.

Dublin were much-improved in the second half and the introduction of Dónal Burke early in the second period turned the game- Burke finishing the tie as Dublin’s top scorer with 0-07 (3f, one 65).

Rian McBride hit Dublin’s second goal on 44 minutes after some excellent work from Ronan Hayes.

The goal- alongside further points from O’Sullivan and Burke-helped Dublin to a 1-point lead by the second half water break.

Mattie Kenny emptied his bench in the second half, bringing on the likes of Chris and Paul Crummey, Andrew Dunphy, Seán Currie and St Oliver Plunketts/ ER’s Cillian Hayes.

The fresh legs gave Dublin the advantage in the closing stages- and points from Burke, Sutcliffe, Currie and Chris Crummey saw Dublin to a deserved six-point victory.

Dublin will now face Wexford in the Walsh Cup Final next weekend.

Dublin scorers: Dónal Burke 0-07 (3f, 65), Ronan Hayes 1-02 (1f, 65), Rian McBride 1-01, Fergal Whitely 0-04, Cian O’Sillivan 0-02, Danny Sutcliffe 0-02, Davy Keogh, Daire Gray, Seán Moran (f), Seán Currie, Chris Crummey all 0-01.

Dublin team: Alan Nolan, Cian O’Callaghan, Eoghan O’Donnell, John Bellew, Daire Gray, James Madden, Seán Moran, Conor Burke, Davy Keogh, Fergal Whitely, Rian McBride, Cian O’Sullivan, Eamonn Dillon, Danny Sutcliffe, Ronan Hayes.

Dublin substitutions: Andrew Dunphy for James Madden (40 mins). Dónal Burke for Eamonn Dillon (42 mins), Chris Crummey for Davy Keogh (46 mins), Kevin Burke for Cian O’Callaghan (48 mins), Paul Crummey for Cian O’Sullivan (51 mins), Alex Considine for Ronan Hayes (55 mins), Sean Currie for Fergal Whitely (57 mins), Cillian Hayes for Seán Moran (61 mins), John Hetherton for Danny Sutcliffe (64 mins), Luke Walsh for Daire Gray (69 mins).