U21 Football Championship Update

The Cadbury U21 Football Championship continues on Wednesday evening, with four quarter-final games taking place in Leinster.

Wednesday, March 5

Cadbury Leinster U21 Football Championship Quarter-Finals

Kildare v Offaly, Athy, 7.30pmLouth v Meath, Clan na Gaeil, 7.30pmLaois v Longford, Portlaoise, 7.30pmDublin v Carlow, Carlow IT, 7.30pm

There are four games in the Leinster U21 Football Championship on Wednesday night. Kildare, Louth, Meath, Dublin and Carlow all make their first appearances of the year, joining first round winners Offaly, Laois and Longford in the last eight of the competition.

Last year's beaten finalists, Longford, who suffered three straight defeats in the Hastings Cup, needed a replay before eventually beating Westmeath by 0-9 to 0-8 thanks to a late Barry McKeon point at St Loman's Park last week. Jack Sheedy's charges face a tricky away tie against Laois, who enjoyed a 0-10 to 0-9 win over Wicklow in Round 1. The O'Moore men have drafted Paul Kingston in, having scored a point off the bench the last day, from the start.

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Dublin, winners of the competition outright in 2010 and 2012 , will be overwhelming favourites when they meet Carlow at Carlow IT, although they will be mindful of the fate suffered by their hurling counterparts last year when they lost to the Barrowsiders despite having all the odds stacked in their favour. Eric Lowndes, Jack McCaffrey, Shane Carthy, Ciarán Kilkenny, Cormac Costello and Davy Byrne are all named in the Dublin team, but Paul Mannion is ruled out with a hamstring injury,

Meath will be backboned by senior players Eamonn Wallace, Bryan McMahon and Pádraig Harnan when they make the trip to Dundalk to face Louth, while reigning champions Kildare, who have a very strong team again this year, will be expected to come through their clash with Offaly, who beat Wexford by 1-16 to 0-6 in Round 1, in Athy.\

Team News:

Kildare: Shane McNamara; Barry Egan, Sean Higgins (capt), Shane O'Hagan; Dylan Corcoran, David Hyland, Cian O'Donoghue; Gavin Farrell, Fergal Conway; Barry Coffey, Tony Gibbons, Paddy Brophy; David Hughes, Daniel Grehan, Neil Flynn.

Dublin: L Molloy; R McGowan, D Byrne, R mcDaid; E Lowndes, J Small, J McCaffrey; P O'Higgins, S Carthy; C Mulally, C Kilkenny, N Walsh; C McHugh, M Deegan, C Costello.

Louth: Jamie Mulholland; Eoghan Lafferty, Dermot Campbell, Kieran Leneghan; Darren McMahon, Robert Brodigan, Sean Thornton; Patrick Reilly, Wayne Campbell; Robert Quigley, James Stewart, Conall McKeever; Cian Doyle, Conor Grimes, Ryan Burns.

Laois: Graham Brody; Eoin Feane, Ciaran Lennon, Dan Dunne; Donal Ramsbottom, Mark O'Halloran, Darren Fitzpatrick; Jason Campion, Padraig McEvoy; Eoin George, Evan Costello, Martin Scully; Paul Kingston, Michael Keogh, Evan O'Carroll.

Meath: Andy Colgan; Simon Carty, Conor McGill, David McQuillan; Padraig Harnan, Shane Melia, Shane McEntee; Adam Flanagan, Conor Sheridan; Charles Brogan, Bobby O'Brien, Neil Shortall (capt); Eamon Wallace, Bryan McMahon, Joey Wallace.

The action in the three other provinces gets underway on Wednesday week, March 12. For more information on the 2014 Cadbury GAA Football U21 Championship, click here .