ELECTRIC IRELAND LEINSTER MINOR HURLING CHAMPIONS SEMI-FINALS

OFFALY 3-18     DUBLIN 1-15

LAOIS 1-15         KILKENNY 0-15

The 2022 Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Hurling Championship final will be an historic first-time encounter between midland rivals Laois and Offaly after the two neighbours used home field advantage to the full to secure momentous wins over Kildare and Dublin this afternoon.

A quarter-final win over Wexford ensured that Declan Qualter’s Laois side went into their contest with Kilkenny at MW Hire O’Moore Park in high spirits, chasing a first championship win over their illustrious neighbours since 1964.

Camross attacker Ben Deegan has been in sublime form from placed balls this year and he got the home side off to exactly the start they wanted, picking off three early points to settled the underdogs into the game.

Kilkenny rallied, drawing level through a couple of frees and two points from Anthony Ireland Wall, but Laois made their vital breakthrough three minutes before half-time when Jer Quinlan fired in the goal that separated the sides at the break.

Captain Eoghan Cuddy was the instigator, winning possession in midfield and driving at the Kilkenny defence through the middle of the field, beating several defenders before setting up Quinlan, whose low finish was worthy of the outstanding approach play.

Quinlan added the first point after half-time, followed up with a free from Deegan, as Laois gave themselves a little extra breathing room in front of an increasingly animated crowd. Anthony Ireland Wall and Edward McDermott knocked over scores from play for the Cats while the bench also made an impact, with Michael Brennan and Michael Stynes adding scores as Kilkenny reduced the lead to one going into the closing stages.

However Ben Deegan held his nerve to fire over his ninth and tenth points of the afternoon to leave Laois just one game away from their fifth ever Leinster minor hurling title, and their first since 1964.

Offaly will be their opponents next week after the Faithful County moved through the gears against Dublin at O’Connor Park, racking up a nine-point win to justify the optimism that surrounds this group of players in local circles.

Unlike Laois, Offaly took their time getting into the game, trailing by 0-4 to 0-2 and then 1-4 to 0-4 after eight minutes, Ruan O’Connor getting the goal for Dublin following some hesitancy in the Offaly backline.

Ciarán Donovan extended Dublin’s lead with the next score, but star Offaly forward Adam Screeney had some moments of real magic in this game and his goal after 14 minutes dragged Offaly back into the game.

Dublin led by 1-8 to 1-6 after 20 minutes but the lead into half-time saw Offaly take control in a very decisive fashion.

Dan Ravenhill’s penalty helped to make it 2-11 to 1-9 at half-time, and that trend continued after the break as Adam Screeney tapped in a close range goal in the fourth minute of the second half to push the lead out to eight points.

The scoring dried up after that as the sides traded scores right up until the final whistle, with some poor shooting on Dublin’s part ensuring that they never got closer than seven points adrift.