Leinster U21: Wins for Wicklow, Laois and Wexford
ONeills
The Leinster U21 Football Championship got underway on Wednesday evening, with wins for Wicklow, Laois and Wexford.
EIRGRID LEINSTER U21 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1
WICKLOW 5-12 CARLOW 3-13
Wicklow recorded a morale-boosting win over Carlow at the IT Carlow campus on Wednesday night, with Seán McGraynor's late goal killing off an impressive comeback from the Barrowsiders.
Diarmuid Walsh's goal gave Carlow a dream start, but goals from Patrick O'Connor, Marc Lennon and Gary Allen (penalty) before the break left Wicklow 3-6 to 1-7 ahead at the interval.
A fourth Wicklow goal, from Cathal Magee on 40 minutes, left the Garden County eight clear but Carlow mustered a superb comeback and two goals in quick succession from lively corner-forward Niall Lowry had them right back in the game.
They then hit three points in a row to draw level, but McGraynor's goal, combined with some adept free-taking from Allen, steered Wicklow over the line.
Wicklow will play Laois in the quarter-final.
Scorers for Wicklow: G Allen 1-4 (1-0 pen, 3f), P O'Connor 1-2, M Lennon 1-1, J C Magee 1-0, S McGraynor 1-0 , J O'Callaghan 0-2, D Boothman 0-1, M Cullen 0-1, M O'Sullivan 0-1
**Scorers for Carlow: **N Lowry 2-2, D Walsh 1-2 (2f), C O'Brien 0-2, D Lunney 0-2, D Smithers 0-2, L O'Sullivan 0-2, S Webb 0-1
WICKLOW: I Murphy; C McGorman, E Mara; C Healy, E Murtagh, M Cullen; D Boothman, S McGraynor; J O'Callaghan, P O'Connor, C Magee; G Allen, M Lennon, M O'Connor. Subs: B McCormack for P O'Connor (44), D Gethings for Healy (56), R Marron for Allen (BC, 63).
CARLOW: C White; A Byrne, J Murphy, C Kelly; M Rennick, M Furey, C O'Toole; K Chatten, D Wall; D Walsh, C O'Brien, L O'Sullivan; D Smithers, D Lunney, N Lowry. **Subs: **C Byrne for Furey (27), S Webb for Wall (BC, 32), C McGrath for O'Toole (45).
**
Evan O Carroll
LAOIS 3-15 LOUTH 1-14
Killeshin-Crettyard duo Eoin Lowry and Evan O'Carroll ran the show at a cold Haggardstown on Wednesday night, hitting 1-8 between them to sink Louth.
Lowry's superb goal before the break gave Laois the advantage at the interval, 1-8 to 0-9, but the Wee County were well in the game thanks to the scoring prowess of Cian Doyle, Ryan Burns and Dean Maguire.
Laois hit four without reply early in the second half to move six clear, and although Louth rallied briefly, two second half goals from Michael Keogh, either side of a goal from Louth's Doyle, drove Laois to victory.
Doyle saw red before the end, completing a disappointing night for Louth. Laois will play Wicklow in the quarter-final.
**Scorers for Laois: **E Lowry 1-4, M Keogh 2-0, S Moore 0-5 (5f), E O'Carroll 0-4 (1 '45), T Shiels 0-1, N Murphy 0-1
Scorers for Louth: C Doyle 1-4, R Burns 0-4 (3f), D Maguire 0-2, D Hamill (1f), T McEneney 0-1, D Lafferty 0-1, J Clutterbuck 0-1
LAOIS: A Cooney; L Knowles, A Campion, E Buggie; T Collins, R Dowling, D O'Reilly; B Daly, N Murphy; D Hickey, E O'Carroll, A Dowling; C Murphy, E Lowry, S Moore.** Subs:** T Shiels for O'Carroll (33), M Keogh for A Dowling (39), C Dunne for Daly (60).
**LOUTH: **F Sheekey; P Kirk, R Curran, N Sharkey; E Lafferty, P Matthews, K Faulkner; C Early, M Corcoran; D Hamill, B McLaughlin, R Burns; D Maguire, D Lafferty, C Doyle. **Subs: **J Clutterbuck for Corcoran (33), A O'Brien for McLaughlin (44), H Osborne for Sharkey (49), T McEneaney for D Lafferty (54), D McConnon for Maguire (55).
**
David Power
WEXFORD 0-14 LONGFORD 2-5
David Power's Wexford U21s finished strongly to power past Longford and into the Leinster Championship quarter-finals on Wednesday night.
Goals from Larry Moran and Dessie Reynolds helped Longford into a 2-1 to 0-5 half-time lead, and they still were ahead by two as the game entered the final quarter.
However, the young Models turned up the groove in the closing 15 minutes with free-taker Donal Shanley (3), Ian Carty, Brian Power and Seán Ryan all raising white flags to help their side surge to a three-point win.
Wexford will face Westmeath in the last eight.
**Scorers for Wexford: **D Shanley 0-7 (7f), S Ryan 0-3, N Hughes 0-1, B Power 0-1, E Nolan 0-1, E Roche 0-1
**Scorers for Longford: **D Reynolds 1-1, L Moran 1-1, D McGivney 0-2 (2f), R Brady 0-1
**WEXFORD: **B Turne; D Barden, J Rossiter, R Vallego; S Doyle, N Rossiter, S Donohoe; N Hughes, G Malone; E Nolan, I Carty, B Power; D Shanley, E Roche, S Ryan. **Sub: **J Carty for Power.
LONGFORD: S Fitzpatrick; R Sweeney, A Farrell, E Macken; L Hughes, C Farrell, V Hourican; S Kenny, D McGivney; P Kiernan, L Sullivan, D Reynolds; L Moran, N Rabbitte, C Berry. Subs: R Brady for Berry; C Brady for Kenny; F Sheridan for Kiernan.
