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Leinster U20FC: Three away wins on a night of drama

Eoin Darcy grabbed two crucial goals for Wicklow in Aughrim tonight.

Eoin Darcy grabbed two crucial goals for Wicklow in Aughrim tonight.

Leinster U-20 Football Championship Round One Results:

Westmeath 1-15 Kildare 1-13

Longford 4-11 Louth 3-13

Wicklow 2-11 Laois 2-8

Wexford 2-9 Carlow 0-8

There was high drama across Leinster tonight in three of the four games that were played in the first round of the province's U-20 championship, with Wicklow, Westmeath and Longford coming through tense finishes.

Laois’ bid for a third successive Leinster U-20 final appearance came to an end tonight as they fell to a three point defeat to Wicklow. A Wicklow team featuring many of the players who beat Dublin in the 2018 minor championship were fancied to end Laois’ excellent run at this age grade, but it went right down to the wire in Aughrim. Early goals from Rioghán Murphy and Adam Dunne gave Laois an early advantage as the O'Moore county tried to build on the success of their U-20 hurlers earlier this week, but Wicklow worked their way back into the tie, and three late points from Matthew Ging tied up the game. With the sides level at 1-11 to 2-8, Eoin Darcy’s second goal of the game sealed as Kevin O’Brien’s charges held their nerve down the stretch.

In the game of the night, Longford held on for a nail-biting one point win over Louth at Haggardstown. After some initial confusion about the final scoreline, it was confirmed that Louth had prevailed by 4-11 to 3-13. This game appeared to be over inside five minutes as Keelan McGann, Euan Finneran and Daniel Reynolds all found the net, giving Longford a 3-3 to 0-0 advantage. However, Louth slowly grew in to this game as a Jay Hughes goal on the stroke of half time gave The Wee County hope. Hughes found the net three minutes in to the second half as Louth continued to chip away at the lead, eventually reducing their arrears to a single point at the water break. However, Longford kicked 1-2 without reply which appeared to move the game beyond Louth. There was another sting in the tail when Gabriel Byrne rattled the net, but it wasn’t enough as Longford held on.

Westmeath struck late to defeat Kildare by two points in a tight contest at St. Conleth's Park in Newbridge. Despite the sides only being level four times, neither team led by more than one score throughout the game. With the sides level at 12 points apiece, Kildare struck a huge blow when they found the net through Neil Aherne. The Lilywhites led by 1-13 to 0-13 but Westmeath kicked the final 1-2 of the game to seal the win, with Ben McGauran’s goal the crucial score in overturning the deficit.

Wexford showed their composure when defeating Carlow 2-9 to 0-8 at Netwatch Cullen Park. Wexford’s first score was a goal as Jack Higgins found the net which helped is side build a 1-5 to 0-2 half time advantage. Carlow chipped away at the lead as they kicked three of the first four second half scores. However, a Ciaran Regan point appeared to settle Wexford before Conor Kinsella notched his side’s second goal moments after the water break to end the game as a contest.