EIRGRID LEINSTER U21 ​FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL: DUBLIN 2-17 LAOIS 2-5

By Paul Keane at Parnell Park

Colm Basquel capped the best week of his burgeoning career so far with 1-3 as holders Dublin cruised through to the EirGrid Leinster U21 football championship final.

The Ballyboden St Enda's attacker only came on in the second-half at Parnell Park having starred in Thursday's AIB All-Ireland but wasted little time in running up the impressive tally.

The comfortable 12 point win secures Dublin a provincial final clash with Kildare on March 30, a repeat of the 2015 decider, though they will be without forward Tom Lahiff for that tie.

The St Jude's man was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident in the 38th minute while Laois midfielder Brian Daly was red carded in a separate earlier incident.

Con O'Callaghan impressed again for Dublin with five points while Chris Sallier scored their opening goal and Glenn O'Reilly kicked three points.

Dublin are undefeated in the Leinster championship since losing to Longford at the quarter-final stage three years ago.

Dessie Farrell's back to back champions had a comfortable win over Meath last time out and hit the ground running here with the game's first four points. O'Callaghan hit 1-7 against the Royals and was among the scorers again as Dublin surged 0-4 to 0-0 clear.

O'Callaghan's second point moved the hosts 0-5 to 0-1 up before Laois hauled themselves back into the contest with an excellent O'Carroll solo goal. Laois funnelled much of their attacks through the senior attacker who began the game at midfield before moving into the full-forward line.

Dublin found scores easier to come by though with O'Reilly and O'Callaghan both excellent while Sallier, a late addition to the line-up, netted in the 17th minute.

O'Callaghan was typically involved in the build-up on the left wing, clearing Sallier to fire a low shot beyond the goalkeeper from around 10 metres out.

Dublin led 1-8 to 1-4 at half-time and were boosted by the presence of Shane Clayton and Basquel on the bench after Thursday's AIB All-Ireland club final win with Ballyboden St Enda's.

Both players came on in the second-half with defender Clayton replacing Killian Deeley when he was black carded.

Basquel had most impact and there were just three points between the teams when he played a one-two with Sean McMahon and scored a 39th minute goal.

It was all Dublin from there who outscored Laois by 1-9 to 1-9 in the closing 20 minutes or so with sub Tom Shiel scoring Laois' second goal.

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**Scorers for Dublin: **Colm Basquel 1-3, Con O'Callaghan 0-5 (3f), Chris Sallier 1-1, Glenn O'Reilly 0-3, Martin Cahalan 0-2, Michael Deegan 0-1, Sean McMahon 0-1, L Molloy 0-1 (1 '45)

Scorers for Laois: Evan O'Carroll 1-2 (1f), Tom Shiel 1-1, Nigel Murphy 0-1, Michael Keogh 0-1

DUBLIN: Lorcan Molloy; Declan Monaghan, Sean McMahon, Eoin Smith; Martin Cahalan, Cillian O'Shea, Brian Howard; Andy Foley, Killian Deeley; Tom Lahiff, Con O'Callaghan, Glenn O'Reilly; Chris Sallier, Michael Deegan, Darragh Spillane. Subs: Colm Basquel for Deegan (37), Shane Clayton for Deeley (46, black card), Eoin Murchan for Spillane (48), Aaron Byrne for Sallier (54), Donal McIlgorm for Foley (55), Jack Mullins for O'Callaghan (64).

**LAOIS: **Aaron Cooney; Liam Knowles, Patrick O'Sullivan, Adam Campion; Eoin Buggie, Trevor Collins, Daniel O'Reilly; Robert Dowling, Evan O'Carroll; Nigel Murphy, Brian Daly, Daniel Hickey; Michael Keogh, Eoin Lowry, Sean Moore. Subs: Chris Shiel for Moore (24, black card), Aaron Dowling for Buggie (HT), Colm Murphy for R Dowling (43), Evan Keane for C Murphy (57), Dylan Doyle for O'Carroll (63).

**Referee: **F Smyth (Offaly)

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