Leinster U21HC final
Capital gold as Dublin hurlers add Leinster U21 title to minor victory
Dublin 2-18 Offaly 3-9
Dublin's (from left) Stephen Loughlin, Stephen Ennis, Jack Gilligan, John Dublin's (from left) Stephen Loughlin, Stephen Ennis, Jack Gilligan, John McCaffrey, Eugene Farrell, Eoin Moran and Dermot Connolly celebrate their Leinster U21 title win.
Thursday July 19 2007
Just over two weeks ago, Dublin won the Leinster MHC title when they defeated Kilkenny.
Senior ace McCrabbe weighed in with nine points, three from play, in a nailbiting contest as the sides' fortunes fluctuated.
With three minutes to go, Dublin were hanging on - 1-18 to 3-9 - as Offaly fought to take the game to a replay.
But the home fans in the 7,000 crowd gave the loudest cheer of the night when subs Shane Durkin and right corner-forward Peadar Carton combined to put the game out of reach.
Durkin gained possession about 50 metres out near the right sideline, and after accelerating away from his marker Michael Verney, he offloaded the ball to Carton, who crashed an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Mark Mulrooney to the top left corner of the net.
As well as his assist, Durkin contributed a point, and another substitute, captain John McCaffrey, who was unable to start because of a groin injury, contributed two points after coming on four minutes into the second half.
After Offaly opened the scoring with a free from Diarmuid Horan, Dublin took up the running, with McCrabbe opening the scoring and Ross O'Carroll netting after four minutes to help the home side to a 1-3 to 0-1 lead after five minutes.
Offaly hit back to reduce the deficit to 0-4 to 1-4 after 11 minutes. But with McCrabbe pulling the strings at midfield and senior ace Tomas Brady dominating at centre-back, the Dubs then hit six points in 11 minutes. But the rollercoaster turned again in the five minutes before half-time, when Offaly, with Sean Ryan doing well in midfield, and Ciaran Slevin threatening up front, shot an unanswered 1-2, to trail by just 2-6 to 1-10 at the break.
The first Offaly goal was lashed home by Alan Egan after goalkeeper Patrick Curtin had batted out a shot from Shane Dooley. And two minutes before the break, Joe Bergin netted from a penalty after Derek Molloy had been pulled down.
On the restart, the visiting side took the lead for the first time when Molloy forced the ball into the Dublin net from close range to leave his side leading 3-6 to 1-11 on 33 minutes.
Two minutes after his introduction, McCaffrey made his presence felt with a long-range point, but a hat-trick of points left the visitors leading 3-9 to 1-12 on 40 minutes.
But that was as good as it got for the Faithful County, with Dublin emphasising their superiority by shooting an unanswered 1-6 in the remaining time.
SCORERS - Dublin: A McCrabbe 0-9 (5f 1 '65'); P Carton 1-2, R O'Carroll 1-0, J McCaffrey 0-2, T Brady, D Connolly, S Lehane, D O'Dwyer, S Durkin 0-1 each. Offaly: J Bergin 1-1 (1-0 pen); D Egan, D Molloy 1-0 each, C Slevin 0-3; D Horan (1f), S Dooley 0-2 each; S Ryan 0-1.
DUBLIN - P Curtin; R Drungoole; P Callaghan; D Webster; K Dunne; T Brady; M McGarry; J Bowland; A McCrabbe; E Moran; D Connolly; S Lehane; P Carton; D O'Dwyer; R O'Carroll. Subs: J McCaffrey for Lehane (34), S Durkan for Moran (35).
OFFALY - M Mulrooney; C Hernon; P Cleary; C Coughlan; D Kenny; B Leonard; B Watkins; S Ryan; C Mahon; D Horan; D Molloy; C Slevin; S Dooley; J Bergin; A Egan. Subs: M Verney for Coughlan (25), S Molloy for Horan (53), K Grogan for Leonard (53).
REF - S Whelan (Wexford).
- By Paddy Hickey
