Path to (2020) Leinster championship final: Dublin’s U20 hurlers

Dublin's U20 hurlers (2020 edition) face Galway in this Wednesday night's Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U20HC final at O'Connor Park, Tullamore (7.30, Live TG4).

The Dubs have beaten Antrim, Offaly and Wexford to progress to Wednesday night's provincial decider - a game that at one stage was scheduled to take place on January 3.

Dublin have won the Leinster U21/U20 hurling championship on six occasions - the last coming in 2016.

Here we look back on Dublin's matches to date - starting back with their first round victory back last October.

Also this week the senior hurlers face Antrim in the Leinster SHC - this coming Saturday in Páirc Tailteann, Navan (3.0, Live GAAGO) while the senior ladies footballers face Cork in Croke Park on Saturday night (7.30, Live on TG4) in their Lidl NFL Division 1 final.

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LEINSTER U20HC FIRST ROUND

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21: Louth Centre of Excellence, Darver
DUBLIN 2-22 ANTRIM 1-8
A clinical second half display saw Dublin's under-20 hurlers cruise to a 17-point victory over Antrim in this Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U20HC first round clash at the Louth Centre of Excellence, Darver.
Dublin held a four-point half-time advantage but once they secured the upperhand in the second half they moved out of sight.
Two early second half points from Micheál Murphy, the second a monster effort, were followed by scores from Liam Murphy and Dara Purcell for Paul O'Brien's side to open up a 1-12 to 1-5 lead by the 37th minute - while in defence Kevin Burke led impressively.
Dublin then went on a scoring surge to see off any hopes of a revival by the Glensmen when hitting 1-10 without reply between the 38th and 57th minute.
Half-time sub Kevin Desmond hit the goal in the 46th minute to add to his two earlier points, the second of these illustrating great accuracy when finding his range from wide on the sideline.
Further scores from Dara Purcell, Luke McDwyer and Liam Murphy had Dublin out of sight when holding a 2-17 to 1-6 cushion entering the concluding ten minutes.
Liam Murphy added his eighth (from play) and then ninth point of the contest when converting a free as Dublin continued to move further clear with scores from Mark Sweeney, Micheál Murphy, his fourth from play, and Dara Purcell, his third point from play, to make it 2-22 to 1-6.
The Saffrons closed out the scoring with the last two points of the night.
In the opening half the counties were level 0-3 each after ten minutes but before the water break Dublin added scores through Darragh Power, Liam Murphy after good play by Darragh Power, and Liam Murphy again when firing over a '65'.
After the water break Dublin keeper Eddie Gibbons drove a penalty low to the corner of the Antrim net, leaving their keeper Tiernan Smith glued to his spot, following a foul on Micheál Murphy to see his side into a 1-6 to 0-3 lead.
By the half-time interval Liam Murphy (free) and Micheál Murphy had embellished the scoring tally for the boys in blue to lead 1-8 to 1-4, Daire Murphy grabbing the Antrim goal in the 30th minute with Seán Elliott providing the assist.
SCORERS - Dublin: L Murphy 0-9 (0-3f, 0-1 '65'), K Desmond 1-2, M Murphy 0-4, D Purcell 0-3, E Gibbons 1-0 (1-0pen), L McDwyer 0-2, D Power, M Sweeney 0-1 each. Antrim: S Elliott 0-6 (0-2f, 0-1 ‘65’), D Murphy 1-0, R McEnteer, P Boyle 0-1 each
DUBLIN: E Gibbons; T Kinnane, A Dunphy, P Dunleavy; E O’Donnell, K Burke, D Leavy; M Sweeney, D Power; D McBride, M Murphy, L McDwyer; D Purcell, B Ryan, L Murphy. Subs: K Desmond for McDywer (30), I O hEithir for Leavy (48), T Aherne for McDwyer (52), A O’Neill for Ryan (52).
ANTRIM: T Smyth; R McCollam, N O’Connor, C McKay; N McCormack, D McCloskey, C McKernan; P Boyle, O Donnelly; D Murphy, A McGrath, S Elliott; C McFadden, D McEnhill, A Bradley. Subs: R McEnteer for Donnelly (29), R Hill for Bradley (42), L Donnelly for McGrath (46), C Hargan for McEnhill (51), T Scally for McCollam (56).
REF: K Brady (Louth).

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LEINSTER U20HC QUARTER-FINAL

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12: St Brendan's Park, Birr
DUBLIN 2-16 OFFALY 0-16

Two goals inside the last ten minutes secured victory for Dublin in this Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U20HC quarter-final at St Brendan’s Park, Birr.
A Brian Duignan point had brought Offaly level with eight minutes to go for the first time since the start, after Dublin had led by five points inside the opening 14 minutes, but crucially a Darach McBride goal a minute later was the first of two vital scores for Paul O’Brien’s men.
McBride was in the right spot when the sliotar emerged from a ruck and he made no mistake when rifling to the Offaly net.
Then in the 57th minute sub Kevin Desmond finished off a superb breakaway move by the Dubs to seal victory, though there was four minutes added time to be played.
Liam Murphy followed up on Dublin’s second goal with a free as Dublin moved 2-15 to 0-15 clear and they advanced to face Wexford in the provincial semi-final.

Offaly finished the game with 14 men after their freetaker and scorer of 0-10 (0-7f, 0-2 '65') Cathal Kiely was dismissed in second half injury-time (second yellow card).
Dublin led 0-9 to 0-7 at half-time after a well contested opening 30 minutes with the Dublin defence led by centre-back Kevin Burke doing well at the heart of the Dubs rearguard.
By the 40th minute Dublin were 0-12 to 0-9 ahead following two fine scores from Micheál Murphy but the freetaking of Cathal Kiely kept Offaly in contact at all stages.
In the first half the Dubs began the more impressive with early points from Billy Ryan and a fine Tommy Kinnane score, after good build-up play by the corner-back with Iain O hEithir.
A great long-range point from Tommy Kinnane, again, in the seventh minute had Dublin three points to the good as the hosts spurned some early point efforts.
By the water break Dublin were 0-6 to 0-1 clear after goalkeeper Eddie Gibbons converted the first of his frees, Darach McBride had converted a sideline and Liam Murphy put over a close range free.
However, Offaly raised their game after the water break with points from Kevin McDermott, Cathal Kiely (free) and corner-back Rory Carty from 70 metres but the wide count was Offaly seven, Dublin one at this stage and it was to have a bearing on the final outcome.
Two Liam Murphy frees broke Offaly’s chain of scores to make it 0-8 to 0-4 after 25 minutes.
Before the break Cathal Kiely had converted two frees and a ‘65’ for the Faithful County with Eddie Gibbons hitting another long-range free for Dublin.
SCORERS - Dublin: L Murphy 0-5 (5f), D McBride 1-1 (0-1 sideline), E Gibbons 0-3 (0-3f), K Desmond 1-0, M Murphy, T Kinnane 0-2 each, B Ryan, D Power, P Linehan 0-1 each. Offaly: C Kiely 0-10 (0-7f, 0-2 65), K Sampson, K McDermott, R Carty, C Donoghue, C O’Meara, B Duignan 0-1 each.
DUBLIN: E Gibbons; T Kinnane, A Dunphy, B Sheehy; I Ó hEithir, K Burke, E O’Donnell; D Power, M Sweeney; D McBride, M Murphy; L McDwyer; D Purcell, B Ryan, L Murphy. Subs: K Desmond for Purcell (36), P Linehan for Ryan (47), D Leavy for Power (54), M Conroy for O’Donnell (58), L Dunne for McDwyer (59).
OFFALY: E Cleary; R Carty, C Butler, D Maher; R Ravenhill, P Cantwell, J Screeney; L Nolan, K McDermott; K Sampson, C Donoghue, B Duignan; C O’Meara, C Kiely, C Flynn. Subs: L Kavanagh for Donoghue (47), N Lyons for Flynn (55), M Watkins for O’Meara (55), C Brady for Duignan (58).
REF: P Murphy (Carlow).

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LEINSTER U20HC SEMI-FINAL

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18: Netwatch Cullen Park, Carlow
DUBLIN 1-19 WEXFORD 1-10
A storming opening to the second half put Dublin on the road to victory in this Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U20HC semi-final at Netwatch Cullen Park, Carlow.

The Dubs hit 1-5 without reply in the opening 11 minutes of the second period to open up a 1-13 to 0-7 advantage and their work-rate to the finish ensured they advanced to face Galway in the provincial decider.

Dublin’s goal in the 41st minute came from the unlikeliest of sources when goalkeeper Eddie Gibbons’ long-range free was mishandled to the net by Wexford keeper James Lawlor.
It came at the end of a string of five fine Dublin points as they upped their physicality and work-rate from the first half to put themselves in the driving seat.
Wexford keeper Lawlor had a busy resumption to the second half as he made two fine saves, parrying the second of those, Darach McBride’s effort over for a point.
Sub Kevin Desmond made a quick impact with a fine point in the 34th minute after being picked out by an accurate crossfield pass from top-scorer Liam Murphy.
Keeper Gibbons then struck the first of his 1-2 from deadball from halfway to put the Paul O’Brien-managed side 0-11 to 0-7 up.
Kevin Desmond added a second point, a fine effort from wide on the left wing following good play by Alex O’Neill.
Then Mark Sweeney struck one of the best points of the night, from the left wing sideline following good work by Enda O’Donnell, younger brother of Dublin senior Eoghan.
By the second half water break Dublin were 1-14 to 0-9 clear before Liam Murphy clipped over a superb point from the left sideline after great interplay by his team-mates.
Despite a well-worked Wexford goal, finished by sub Glen Murphy Butler, Dublin did not lose their concentration and responded with points from Gibbons (free), Liam Dunne and Pádhraic Linehan (both who had been introduced as subs) and a Murphy free to run out nine-point victors.
Dublin led by the minimum at half-time, 0-8 to 0-7, with both teams guilty of some missed opportunities.
Liam Murphy contributed seven of Dublin’s scores, including three frees and a ‘65’, with Donal Leavy grabbing the other score.
Donal Leavy’s point was a brilliant 65-metre effort on the run just after the first water break to bring the sides level 0-4 after 18 minutes.
Liam Murphy had opened Dublin’s scoring from play after his initial ‘65’ dropped short but full-forward Alex O’Neill forced Wexford keeper James Lawlor into a poor clearance from which Murphy benefitted.
Dublin’s defence was doing well with Tommy Kinnane making one brilliantly timed intervention with the Wexford forwards looking dangerous in the 15th minute.
The Dubs had a goal opportunity in the 23rd minute after Alex O’Neill had placed Billy Ryan close to goal, however, his effort was blocked out for a ‘65’ by Joe Conroy which Liam Murphy converted.
The influential Liam Murphy hit three further points before the half-time interval, including two frees.
SCORERS – Dublin: L Murphy 0-10 (0-5f, 0-1 ‘65’), E Gibbons 1-2 (1-2f), K Desmond 0-2, D Leavy, D McBride, M Sweeney, L Dunne, P Linehan 0-1 each. Wexford: R Bannville 0-6 (0-4f), G Murphy Butler 1-0, S O’Connor 0-2, C Mahoney, D Codd 0-1 each.
DUBLIN: E Gibbons; T Kinnane, A Dunphy, I O hEithir; E O’Donnell, K Burke, D Leavy; M Sweeney, D Power; D McBride, M Murphy, L McDwyer; B Ryan, A O’Neill, L Murphy. Subs: K Desmond for Murphy (ht), L Dunne for Ryan (44), P Linehan for Power (55), C Foley for O’Neill (56), P Christie for O hEithir (59).
WEXFORD: J Lawlor; C Molloy, S Audsley, J Conroy; D Codd, N Murphy, D Kehoe; C Mahoney, J Shiel; L Kavanagh, C Clancy, R Lawlor; S O’Connor, R Banville, J Byrne. Subs: G Murphy Butler for Byrne (ht), AJ Redmond for Shiel (37), D Furlong for Kavanagh (50), M Murphy for Mahoney (50), C Cooney for R Lawlor (62).
REF: S Cleere (Kilkenny).