Offaly see off Dublin to set up Leinster U20 Hurling championship final clash with Wexford
Offaly 1-19 Dublin 2-12
Luke Watkins of Offaly in action against Seán Gallagher of Dublin during the Leinster Hurling U20 Championship semi-final at Glenisk O'Connor Park in Tullamore, Offaly. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile — © SPORTSFILE
A tenacious and disciplined defensive performance all across the pitch, allied to a sprinkling of stardust from senior star Charlie Mitchell, powered Offaly past Dublin in Tullamore and put them within 60 minutes of a first Leinster hurling title at the U-20 grade since 2000.
With a strong breeze at their backs in the first half, the Faithful County were the better team in that opening period but it was far from certain that their 0-12 to 1-4 interval lead would be enough.
Mitchell, Joe Hoctor, Colin Spain and Dan Bourke all fared well in an attack that was shorn of the influential Adam Screeney, but Dublin had registered a crucial goal in the 14th minute when Ollie Gaffney and Neil Clerkin rose up to meet a sliced shot from Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing that hung in the breeze, with Gaffney appearing to get the decisive flick.
Three frees from Mitchell in the closing minutes of the half gave the home side something to defend, but when Ó Dúlaing, Gaffney and Conroy all points inside the first three minutes of the second half, it looked like the Dubs would power on and score freely.
Instead, Offaly dug their heels in defensively, even after losing impressive wing back Ter Guinan to injury.
Man of the match Sam Bourke anchored the defence superbly, and once they stemmed the bleeding by forcing a couple of speculative, low-percentage shots, momentum shifted decisively back in the Faithful County’s favour when talisman Cormac Egan sprinted past two defenders and got a shot on the Dublin goal in the 38th minute.
His effort was blocked, but Mitchell was there to sweep the sliotar into an empty net, and from then on, Offaly were exceptional.
Mitchell picked off one sublime point from the wing, Dan Ravenhill came off the bench after a lengthy injury to fire over two vital scores, and throughout, Offaly kept the Dubs in a defensive stranglehold, gradually moving further and further ahead, to the point that Conn Rock’s stoppage time goal for Dublin was never going to be any more than a consolation.
Scorers – Offaly: C Mitchell 1-9 (0-5f, 0-1 65), J Hoctor 0-2, C Spain 0-2, D Bourke 0-2, D Ravenhill 0-2 (0-1f), S Bourke 0-1, S Rigney 0-1. Dublin:D Ó Dúlaing 0-5 (0-3f), O Gaffney 1-1, C Rock 1-1, J O’Brien 0-1, N Clerkin 0-1, J Conroy 0-1, S Gallagher 0-1, N Hogan 0-1.
Offaly:M Troy; P Taaffe, B Miller, J Mahon; L Watkins, S Bourke, T Guinan; C Spain, C King; D Bourke, C Egan, C Doyle; S Rigney, J Hoctor, C Mitchell. Subs:D Ravenhill for Hoctor (half-time), B Egan for Guinan (53), C Bracken for Miller (56).
Dublin:A O'Connor; B Dunne, B Moorhouse-Carroll, D Lucey; C Dolan, J O'Shea, C Ó Ríain; J O'Brien, S Gallagher; B Kenny, D Ó Dúlaing, N Clerkin; C Donovan, J Conroy, O Gaffney. Subs:C Rock for Clerkin (41), N Hogan for Conroy (41), S Crosbie for O’Brien (43), A Keegan for Dolan (50), C Brennan for Kenny (57).
Referee:E Furlong (Wexford).
