Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Football Championship Final: Dublin 2-19, Louth 0-12

Dublin dominated the Electric Ireland Leinster MFC final at Croke Park this afternoon, with two goals in the seventh minute giving them a cushion which they easily maintained as the game wore on.

Half forwards James Madden and James Doran fired unstoppable shots to the Louth net within 60 seconds of each other, and the Dubs went on to lead by 2-11 to 0-5 at the interval.

Louth staged stirring comebacks to in the quarter-final and semi-final to oust Offaly and Wexford, but couldn’t repeat those exploits today.

Dublin had just too much class in all areas of the field and ensured a 33^rd title for the county at this grade was secured with 13 points to spare.

Having beaten Meath, Longford and Kildare to reach the decider, Dublin hit the ground running and even before the goals, had gained the upper hand with three well-taken points from Ross McGarry.

Well-worked moves resulted in the two goals from Madden and Doran which gave Dublin a 2-3 to 0-1 lead.

The Wee County did respond with three points in a row between the 12th and 15th minutes through Ciaran Keenan (two frees) and Fearghal Malone, while ‘keeper Alan McGauley pulled off a brave save, resulting in an injury which forced him off soon after.

But they only mustered one more point before the interval – another free – as Dublin continued to surge forward and slotted over eight more scores, with David Lacey, Sean Hawshaw and wing backs Kieran Kennedy and Eoin O’Dea among those contributing to their tally.

Dublin added eight points to Louth’s seven in an uneventful second half, after which wing back Kieran Kennedy was awarded the man of the match award and team captain Donal Ryan lifted the Fr Murphy Cup.

Dublin Scorers: James Doran 1-1, David Lacey 0-4 (0-1f, 0-1 45), Ross McGarry 0-3, James Madden 1-0, Ciaran Archer 0-2 (0-1f), Sean Hawkshaw 0-2 (0-1f), Eoin O’Dea 0-2, Kieran Kennedy 0-1, Daniel Brennan 0-1, Mark Tracey 0-1, Adam Byrne 0-1, Luke Doran 0-1.

Louth Scorers: John Gallagher 0-5 (0-3f, 0-1 45), Ciaran Keenan 0-5 (0-5f), Fearghal Malone 0-1, Liam Jackson 0-1.

DUBLIN: David O’Hanlon; Darren Maher, Peadar O Cofaigh Byrne, Liam Flatman; Kieran Kennedy, Neil Matthews, Eoin O’Dea; Mark Tracey, Donal Ryan; Daniel Brennan, James Doran, James Madden; Ross McGarry, Sean Hawkshaw, David Lacey. Subs: Adam Byrne for Brennan (38), Ciaran Archer for Lacey (48), Aaron Lynch for Maher (51), Luke Doran for O’Dea (55), Karl Lynch Bissett for Tracey (56), Eoghan Joyce for Hawkshaw (58).

LOUTH: Alan McGauley; Alan Connor, Philip Trainor, Dan Corcoran; Leonard Grey, Eoghan Callaghan, James O’Reilly; Liam Jackson, Conor Morgan; Gerry Garland, Ciaran Keenan, Fearghal Malone; Ben Mooney, Conor Gillespie, John Gallagher. Subs: Adam Molloy for McGauley (20), Conor Nicholson for Malone (h/t), Shane Hickey for Morgan (37), Shane Byrne for Gillespie (49), Keelan O’Neill for Garland (51), Dean McGreehan for Grey (58).

Ref: Patrick Maguire (Longford).