U20s make it 3 from 3 with win over Offaly

Pic courtesy Paul Lundy

DUBLIN 1-15 OFFALY 1-9

Dublin completed their third successive victory in Group 1 of the Energia Leinster Under 20 Football Championship when overcoming Offaly by six points at O’Connor Park, Tullamore on Tuesday evening.

In doing so, the Dubs confirmed a semi-final place with a strong start and even stronger conclusion seeing them home comfortably by the final whistle.

The visitors served early notice of their intent with captain Conor Dolan showing his pace to kick the opening score in the 2^nd minute.

That lead was doubled in an instant with Ross Keogh firing over from a distance and Dublin were three points to the good by the 6^th minute following a Luke Ward score.

The hosts opened their own account in the 10^th minute through Harry Plunkett but Dublin made a decisive burst towards the end of the first quarter to push six points ahead.

Darragh Dempsey’s point from a mark in the 13^th minute preceded the contest’s opening goal as midfielder Greg McEneaney burst through from deep and while David Dunican got a touch on his effort, it failed to prevent the ball from hitting the net.

The teams traded points from that juncture with Plunkett and Niall Furlong on target for Offaly while Dan O’Leary and Kalem O’Brien did likewise at the opposite end, prior to the hosts battling their way back into contention towards the end of the half.

Plunkett’s third point of the half kept the hosts ticking over and an excellent goal in added time from John Furlong helped trim their deficit to just two points (1-6 to 1-4) by the turnaround.

Ethan Dunne’s point early in the second-half gradually got the Dubs back on track but Offaly had the momentum at this stage and kicked four points on the bounce through Geordi O’Meara (2f), Jamie Guing and Plunkett from a free.

The visitors were required to did deep at this stage and they duly delivered a quarter of unanswered points of their own, with Ward, Luke Breathnach, Dempsey and Keogh all on target.

An O’Meara point briefly stalled their scoring run but Dublin were determined to finish on the front foot with a brace of Keogh frees augmented by points from Breathnach and Dempsey leaving the visitors convincing winners by the end.

Scorers – Dublin: R Keogh 0-4 (3f), G McEneaney 1-0, D Dempsey 0-3 (1m), L Ward, L Breathnach 0-2 each, C Dolan, D O’Leary, K O’Brien, E Dunne 0-1 apiece. Offaly: H Plunkett 0-4 (3f), J Furlong 1-0, G O’Meara 0-3 (2f), N Furlong, J Guing 0-1 each.

Dublin: H O’Sullivan; E O’Connor Flanagan, T Clancy, F Bruton; D O’Leary, D McGrath, A Gavin; E Dunne, G McEneaney; C Dolan, L Ward, T Brennan; D Dempsey, R Keogh, K O’Brien. Subs: A Smyth for O’Sullivan (23), L Breathnach for O’Brien (half-time), C Moriarty for Brennan (33), M McDonald for McGrath (45), S Smith for Dolan (57).

Offaly: D Dunican; D O’Neill, D Finneran, T Hyland; G O’Meara, D Byrne, D McDaid; J Furlong, C Ryan; N Furlong, H Plunkett, L Bourke; C Egan, S Conway, J Guing. Subs: K O’Neill for Conway (39), A Egan for Furlong (49), P Robbins for Bourke (49), D Kilmurray for O’Neill (56), B Heffernan for O’Meara (59).

Referee: Kieran Harris (Kildare).