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Hurling

hurling

Electric Ireland Leinster MHC round-up

Offaly defeated Meath in the Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Hurling Championship.

Offaly defeated Meath in the Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Hurling Championship.

Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Hurling Championship

**WEXFORD 1-21 LAOIS 0-18 **

OFFALY 4-23 MEATH 0-13

KILDARE 2-17 ANTRIM 4-7

WESTMEATH 2-15 CARLOW 0-9

By Kevin Egan

Wexford’s senior hurlers have to wait a week before entering the race for the 2018 Leinster championship but their minor counterparts made an excellent debut appearance this afternoon as they secured a 1-21 to 0-18 win over Laois at Innovate Wexford Park in a hugely entertaining encounter.

AJ Redmond was one of the stars of the show for the home side with a final tally of 0-13 and he got the Model County up and running, but Conor Cosgrove, Tadhg Cuddy and Mark Hennessy were all on the mark for the visitors as they gave as good as they got in a fast-paced opening half.

Wexford enjoyed a purple patch before half time, picking off five out of the last six scores to take an 0-13 to 0-11 lead into the break, but Adam Kirwan, Cuddy and Hennessy were again on the mark to draw Laois level by the midway point in the half.

A close range Owen Whitty goal edged Wexford in front with ten minutes to play and after the sides traded scores, Laois tired slightly after emptying their tank and Wexford fired over the last three points to wrap up a significant victory.

Offaly’s minor hurlers were impressive as they got their Leinster minor championship campaign out to a very solid start in Trim recording a 4-23 to 0-13 win over Meath thanks to a powerful second half performance.

The Faithful County burst out of the blocks with five of the first six scores of the game, including a goal from Danny Flanagan, but Meath replied well and four points from play from Ian Birmingham brought them back to within two points late in the first half.

Offaly pushed that gap out to five, 1-11 to 0-9 by half time, but they really cut loose after half time and played some splendid hurling in the sunshine in south west Meath. Cathal Kiely, younger brother of senior player Cillian, racked up 1-5, while DJ McLoughlin (1-3) and Ciarán Teehan (1-2) each scored freely as Offaly cruised to a 22-point win.

The game of the day was played at St. Conleth’s Park in Newbridge where Antrim scored four first half goals, but still fell to a 2-17 to 4-7 defeat to Kildare, who later went on to make it a senior and minor double with a Christy Ring cup win over Roscommon.

Conaill Bohill wreaked havoc for Antrim at full forward, scoring a goal and playing a key role in two other goals as a steady flow of green flags kept Antrim in the game despite Kildare’s supremacy in the middle third. Ferran O’Sullivan hit the net for Kildare to give them a three-point lead after Bohill got the first goal of the game, but Caolan O’Connor, Eoin McGrath and Michael McGarry were next to hit the net for the Ulster County as they took a 4-2 to 1-6 lead into the dressing room.

Kildare produced some superb hurling in the third quarter with Shane Whyte, Harry Dunne and Conan Boran all prominent, but a point from Dannan Keogh and a free from Bohill edged Antrim in front, 4-6 to 1-13, going into the last 10 minutes. Kildare’s breakthrough came when Michael McGovern got behind the Antrim defence and smashed in a goal, while Kildare closed out the game with a couple of late scores to take a four point win.

Westmeath also got out to a good start when they beat Carlow by 2-15 to 0-9 at TEG Cusack Park, in another contest that was tight at half time. Just three points separated the sides at the break, 0-9 to 0-6, but the Lake County moved it up a gear after the break, with Eoin Daly firing over points from long distance, both from frees and from play.

David Devine’s goal after 41 minutes put distance between the sides the game was long over by the time Devine added his second goal with three minutes from play.