Opening round victory for Louth U20s against Offaly

27 Mar 2024

Louth 1-11  Offaly 2-6

Having seemingly blitzed their opponents by scoring 1-7 without reply either side of half time, Louth appeared to be home if not exactly dry in the wind and rain of Darver on Tuesday night, as they led by 1-7 to 1-2 heading into the final quarter of this Under 20 Leinster Championship clash.

However, Offaly who have a history of grabbing late goals in this fixture to break Wee County hearts, seemed to be at it again when midfielder Cillian Bourke found the net to bring his side back into the game.

However, despite this sucker punch, Louth showed a maturity in responding to this little setback, with the outstanding Tadgh McDonnell who finished with 25 possessions, finding the range with a wonderful point to calm the nerves of the home supporters who braved the elements to make the trip to Darver.

Ardee’s McDonnell was involved in the next Louth score, which was finished off by goalscorer Kieran McArdle who added to his growing reputation as a talented star in the making to stretch Fergal Reel’s side’s lead to four at 1-9 to 2-2 entering the final 10 minutes.

McArdle nearly added an assist to his evening’s work in that period, only for Offaly’s keeper Conor Melia to deny Louth’s James Maguire following a counter attack. Maguire was another player who impressed on the night, having caught the eye with his performances for the Westerns in last year’s Junior Club Championship.

Conor Melia is certainly a name that may be etched on the minds of the DKIT contingent among the Louth under 20 squad, having played a key role in MTU Kerry’s Trench Cup and league success. It was not just Melia’s shot stopping that was prominent, but his distribution in general play for the Faithful also caught the eye.

Having played with the breeze at their backs in that opening half, it was Offaly who found themselves ahead, with a Robbie Gallagher free opening the scoring early on.

Kickouts from the clubhouse side of Darver were treacherous for both respective keepers, with Louth winning 5 out of 9 in that first half, with Offaly’s Ross Kellaghan capitalising to fire over Offaly’s second score, having collected a Louth restart.

When Sean Afolabi Joseph got the telling touch to a long ball from Christian McKeon, Offaly were 1-2 to no score ahead approaching the second quarter.

Louth struggled to make inroads in attack against a packed Offaly defence and a breeze which was epitomised by the Wee County’s early misses from frees.

However, Louth got a lifeline when Kieran McArdle cut out a Diarmaid O’Neill pass in the Faitful’s half which was intended for Melia, to bare down on goal, and the Brides star had the simplest tasks to plant the ball into an empty net to get the reds off the mark.

That sparked Louth into life, with a James Maguire free raising their first white flag, before pressure on an Offaly kickout saw Sean Reynolds and Darragh Dorian combine for Tadgh McDonnell to level things up at 1-2 each approaching the 21st minute.

That was how it remained when referee Patrick Coyle blew for half time, with Offaly probably feeling like an opportunity was missed, playing with that wind advantage, having scored 1-2 from 9 shots in that period including 6 wides.

Second Half:

With the switch of ends came a slight change in fortune for Louth in front of the posts, and the breeze at their backs, as they rattled off five unanswered points in 12 second half minutes.

As Offaly understandably struggled kicking into that wind, Louth pressed up, winning 10 out of 14 Faithful restarts in that half, with Sean Callaghan and Dara McDonnell getting to grips in the middle, supported by Cameron Maher and James Rogers, along with the hardworking Aaron McGlew who managed to get himself on the score sheet during this spell.

Darragh Dorian converted an early mark, while a McArdle free gave Louth a two point lead.

Sean Reynolds who finished with 26 possessions set up McGlew for his strike from play, while a fine move involving Dara McDonnell, Sean Callaghan and Liam Flynn saw James Maguire score from play, with Reynolds himself giving Louth a 1-7 to 1-2 lead inside 42 minutes.

You felt as if it was just a matter of Louth kicking on for their maiden opening round victory in this competition. However, Offaly’s Cillian Bourke had other ideas. Bourke who lined out for the Faithful when they beat Louth in a dramatic minor championship clash last year, found the net after a Ross Kellaghan free dropped short in the square, and suddenly it was a two point game.

Tadgh McDonnell and Kieran McArdle (f) epitomised Louth’s mature response to this crisis, but thanks to the free taking of keeper Conor Melia, and two equally stunning strikes from corner back Diarmaid O’Neill, Louth were hanging on, with Marcus Dalton also having a shot blocked in the square, with Louth backs to the wall.

However, thanks to more leadership from Tadgh McDonnell, Kieran McArdle converted from play, before a point from Pearse Grimes-Murphy allowed supporters to revel in the thrill of an opening round victory, despite a late Melia free and a black card for Sean Reynolds late on.

Louth: Cian O’Donoghue; Ronan Deery, Shane Halpenny, Fionn Tipping; James Maguire (0-2) (1f), Cameron Maher, Tadgh McDonnell (0-2); Dara McDonnell, Sean Callaghan; Liam Flynn, Sean Reynolds (0-1), James Rogers; Darragh Dorian (0-1), Kieran McArdle (1-3) (2f), Aaron McGlew (0-1)

Subs: Cormac McKeown for Halpenny (41), Pearse Grimes-Murphy (0-1) for Deery (51), Adam Gillespie for Dorian (56).

Offaly: Conor Melia (0-2) (2f); Dylan Kilmurry Christian McKeon, Diarmaid O’Neill (0-2); Dylan Byrne, Geordi O’Meara ©, Luke Bourke; Cillian Bourke (1-0), Marcus Dalton; Ross Kellaghan (0-1), Niall Furlong, Steven Doran; Sean Afolabi Joseph (1-0), Robbie Gallagher (0-1) (1f), Luke Kelly.

Subs: Cillian Foran for Kellaghan (47), Ben Kennedy for Luke Bourke (51), Daragh McKeon for Kelly (51). Eoin Smith for Cillian Bourke (58).

Referee: Patrick Coyle (Meath).

Photo Credit: Joey Aphonso (Louth GAA)