Louth, Kildare, Dublin And Wexford Into MFC Semi-Finals
Full-Time scores from the Minor Football Championship Quarter-Finals this weekend were:
Louth 0-15, Offaly 1-11
Kildare 1-14, Laois 2-6
Dublin 6-12, Longford 0-5
Wexford 1-12, Carlow 2-8
The semi-final draw will be held at a meeting in Aras Laighean on Tuesday evening, 23rd May.
Louth trailed Offaly by 1-5 to 0-1 after only 11 minutes in Drogheda, but battled back to win by point.
Faithful County sharp-shooter Cian Johnson struck the game’s only goal in the 5th minute, after John Gallagher had opened the scoring for the home side.
Louth enjoyed their best spell in the first half when Fergal Malone (2), Gallagher and Eoghan Callaghan fired over. But Offaly still led by 1-8 to 0-7 at the interval.
Another four points in a row had Louth level by the 43rd minute, and it was nip-and-tuck from then to the end. In the dying moments, Offaly goalkeeper Jack McEvoy brought the sides level once again, but Louth had the final say with a John Gallagher free.
Like Louth, reigning champions Kildare also trailed by four points at the interval, but came through with five to spare in the end.
Laois led by 0-3 to 0-2 midway through the first half and really established their dominance with quick-fire goals from Ciaran Comerford and Niall Dunne.
Free-takers Darragh Kirwan and David Kelly brought Kildare back into contention, but they were 2-3 to 0-5 behind at the interval.
An early second half point for Kildare was followed by a Darragh Ryan goal in the 35th minute and when Kelly slotted over a free, the home side went ahead. Shane O’Sullivan put Kildare two ahead and although Laois subsequently cut their deficit to a single score on two occasions, the Lilywhites finished with a flourish, firing over five of the last six points.
Meanwhile, there was no score in the opening 13 minutes at Parnell Park, but Dublin gradually gained the upper-hand over Longford and ran out easy winners.
Dublin registered their first goal through Ross McGarry in the 26th minute, and led by 1-6 to 0-1 at the break.
A second goal was netted early in the second half from Sean Hawkshaw, and there was no way back for Longford.
Further Dublin goals were scored by James Doran (42nd minute), Adam Byrne (47), Ross McGarry (53) and James Madden (58) as they built up a 25 point winning margin.
On Sunday, Wexford survived a late Carlow comeback to advance by one point, 1-12 to 2-8. After an even first quarter, Wexford edged ahead and thanks to the accuracy of Jamie Myler, led by 0-8 to 0-4 at the interval.
When Myler convered a penalty in the second half, Wexford looked home and dry, but Carlow fought back with two goals in quick succession by Conor Doyle and, in the end, the Slaneysiders were relieved to go through by the minimum margin.
