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Picture Courtesy Matthew Burke
DUBLIN 3-11
LOUTH 1-16
Dublin completed their third successive victory in Group 1 of the Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Football Championship as they pipped Louth by the slimmest of margins in their thrilling encounter at Parnell Park on Thursday night.
Having registered wins over Offaly and Laois previously, the Dubs topped the group and have a semi-final to look forward to but the final scoreline only told half the story.
The Dubs enjoyed a narrow 1-6 to 0-6 interval advantage with a 9th minute goal from Mubarak Salami handing them the early initiative before Louth struck back through six points from placed balls by Connell Kelly.
Louth controlled the second-half for the large part but late goals from Finn McGinnis and Caoilinn O’Connell looked to have salvaged the win for Dublin.
However, Andrew O’Reilly netted for Louth in the 64th minute only for Salami to kick an exceptional two-pointed score in the dying stages to see his side home.
After a patient start to proceedings, the Dubs finally opened the scoring through a 6th minute free from Jamie Heavey and they doubled their lead soon after with Finn McGinnis kicking a fine score from distance.
They put further distance between the teams two minutes later as Salami initially lost control of possession close to goal but showed great perseverance to compose himself and fire a low shot to the net beyond Senon Connolly in the Louth goal.
The visitors regrouped well from this setback as Kelly opened their account with an 11th minute free and a superbly struck ‘45’ two minutes later brought Louth back to within three points by the end of the first quarter.
A well-worked Ryan Ennis point in the 17th minute stretched the home lead with Heavey restoring Dublin’s five-point buffer as he popped over his second free two minutes later.
Back came Louth with Kelly slotting a two-pointed free in the 21st minute, a score that added impetus to the away challenge, and he repeated the trick with another classy strike to leave the bare minimum between the sides by the 29th minute.
The scoring finished with another two-pointed free, this time from the boot of Heavey in injury time, trebling the home lead to three points by the break.
It was the visitors that took control upon the resumption with Kelly adding another two-pointed free in the 32nd minute before their first score from play arrived a minute later through Conal Mannion.
Dublin replied through a Heavey ‘45’ and a McGinnis point but parity was restored by the 39th minute as Tom Maguire kicked a two-pointed score from distance.
The towering midfielder added a point soon after to edge his side in front for the first time and while Ennis replied for the hosts, another Kelly free handed Louth an 0-13 to 1-9 entering the final quarter.
The visitors maintained that momentum courtesy of points by Jack Martin and Tadhg Devaney and the latter kicked another fine score in the 53rd minute to leave Dublin facing a four-point deficit.
They were handed a lifeline four minutes later as McGinnis blasted home from close range from an Ernesto Tennant pass and they looked to have taken full advantage as O’Connell cracked an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net three minutes into added time.
Back came Louth with a goal of their own through O’Reilly but the booming boot of Salami had the final word on an exceptional evening of football delivered by both sides.
Scorers – Dublin: F McGinnis, M Salami (1 P2) 1-2 each; J Heavey 0-5 (2f, 1 ‘45’, 1 F2); C O’Connell 1-0; R Ennis 0-2. Louth: C Kelly 0-9 (2f, 1 ‘45’, 3 F2); T Maguire 0-3 (1 P2); A O’Reilly 1-0; T Devaney 0-2; C Mannion, J Martin 0-1 apiece.
Dublin: F Byrne; G Hayes, J O’Keeffe, H Warnes; C O’Connell, J Heffernan, Z Donegan; F McGinnis, M Farrell; T Ó Ceallaigh, C Clifford, R Ennis; C McCabe, M Salami, J Heavey. Subs: E Tennant for Donegan (47), T Coyle for Heavey (49), C O’Dwyer for McCabe (57).
Louth: S Connolly; R Hickey, C Titley, F McEneaney; M McGlew, T Devaney, C Marron; T Maguire, C McQuillan; O Reidy, A O’Reilly, C Mannion; C Rooney, J Martin, C Kelly. Subs: S Hoey for Mannion (43), N McCreesh for Rooney (50).
Referee: Kieran Olwell (Meath).