A general view of TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Football Championship
Laois 0-15 Longford 1-6
Dublin 2-15 Offaly 2-5
Kildare 0-12 Louth 0-6
Wicklow 2-14 Carlow 1-5
Meath 2-11 Westmeath 1-7
Laois saw their Electric Ireland Leinster Minor campaign end on a positive note as they overcame Longford 0-15 to 1-6, building on a fine second half display in which the winners conceded just one score, having gone into half-time level.
After falling 0-6 to 0-4 down towards the end of the first half, Laois fired over 11 points without reply either side of the interval to power home, with Ennae Byrne, Callum McElroy and Darren Brennan all registering fine scores.
Laois goalkeeper Liam Conroy made a fantastic save diving to the right side and low to deny a penalty from Longford's Keelan Hudson, extending their momentum. From there Laois kicked on with Callum McElroy nabbing three points in the final period, briefly moving nine points clear before James Hagan got the game’s only goal in injury time.
Dublin secured their second win of the campaign as they produced a storming second half to overcome Offaly. The winners restricted Offaly to just a point from play in the final period as Dublin produced a 13 point swing after the Faithful county led 2-4 to 1-4 at the interval.
In fact Offaly led this contest 2-4 to 0-4, with Cian McNamee bagging both goals, but a Rian Doherty major before the break saw Dublin trail by just three, before they turned around to play with the wind.
From there they took complete control with Rian Doherty and Donagh Magee combining for 2-10, as the latter’s final half goal effectively sealed Dublin’s win. Offaly now head into the preliminary quarter-final, where they will take on Wicklow.
Kildare produced a polished display as they overcame Louth by double scores, 0-12 to 0-6. The win ensures Kildare top the group and advance directly to a Leinster semi final stage, while this defeat is far from fatal from a Louth perspective as after winning their opening two games, they secured a second place finish and a quarter final berth.
Wicklow secured an emphatic 12 point win over Carlow to seal top spot in group three. The result sees Wexford finish second and also progress to the knockout stages. Two goals in the opening half paved the way for Wicklow as they led 2-3 to 0-3 at the interval.
Pat Keogh and Patrick Small found the net in the opening period as Wicklow managed to build up an advantage they never looked like relinquishing. Thomas Tisdall and Jim Corrigan helped Wicklow stay in control as despite Jacob Curran's late goal for Carlow, Wicklow secured their second victory in as many games.
Finally, it was a 4pm throw in at Mullingar where Meath produced their best performance of the campaign to secure a 2-11 to 1-7 win over Westmeath, setting up a preliminary quarter-final clash with Wicklow.
In what was effectively a straight knockout tie, Westmeath played with a very strong wind in the first half and came back from conceding the first two points to lead by 0-4 to 0-2 at half-time. However, two goal chances from William Scahill and James McHugh, both of which went inches wide of the right hand post, proved hugely consequential.
Cormac Nugent, a grand-nephew of Meath legend Seán Boylan, shot 0-6 for the Royals in the second half, with Evan Kelly and Pat Crawley finishing off good goals, giving them more than enough cushion to overcome a late reply from McHugh – though corner back Cillian Yore was called into action to make an incredible goal-line block to deny McHugh what would have been a nerve-wracking second goal.