Dublin Too Strong In SFC Semi-Final
Leinster SFC Semi-Final
Dublin 3-22 Offaly 0-11
By Paul Keane at Croke Park (from gaa.ie website)
Another all-action Dublin display at Croke Park yielded an impressive 20-point success over Offaly and qualification for a familiar Leinster SFC final fixture with Louth.
Goals from Paul Mannion, Niall Scully and Colm Basquel helped propel Dublin to victory in front of 21,957 while a dozen different scorers got on the scoresheet.
The May 12 final against Louth will be a repeat of last year’s decider with All-Ireland holders Dublin set to chase a 14th consecutive Leinster crown.
For Offaly, it will be a return to the Tailteann Cup and on the basis of a generally positive season so far, Declan Kelly’s side will be optimistic of pushing hard for that title.
The 20-point gap in the end flattered Dublin a little as they reeled off 1-5 without response in the closing minutes.
Basquel got Dublin’s third goal in second-half stoppage time and finished as the top scorer with 1-3 while Con O’Callaghan sniped 1-2.
James McCarthy’s inclusion from the start for the first time since last July’s All-Ireland final defeat of Kerry drew cheers from the Dublin support before a ball was even kicked.
The nine-time All-Ireland medallist wore number 20 and replaced Brian Howard in the team while Cormac Costello came in for Ross McGarry in attack.
It was business as usual for the holders, 16-point victors against Meath at the quarter-final stage, who put four points on the board before Offaly got off the mark in the 16th minute.
Mind you, it was worth the wait when former U-20 star Keith O’Neill split the posts with a sumptuous spinning kick off the outside of his right boot from the right wing.
O’Neill impressively repeated the feat two minutes later, this time claiming an advanced mark in a similar position on the right and cutting the ball over again off the outside of the boot.
As if to underline his skillset, the Clonbullogue man closed out the first-half scoring with a point off his left boot.
Unfortunately for Offaly, those were the highlights during a half that Dublin dominated, allowing the All-Ireland champions to hit the interval with a 1-10 to 0-4 lead.
The scores simply came that bit easier for Dublin who responded to O’Neill’s first point with a score from Costello seconds later. Then after O’Neill’s second point, Dublin won the resulting kick-out and worked a lightning fast move that ended with Man of the Match Paul Mannion playing in O’Callaghan for Dublin’s first goal.
John Small, Costello, Ciaran Kilkenny and Cian Murphy added points for Dublin while Costello was unfortunate not to strike Dublin’s second goal in the 32nd minute, goalkeeper Ian Duffy coming to Offaly’s rescue on that occasion.
It didn’t long for Dublin to rattle the net again after the restart, less than 90 seconds in fact.
Tom Lahiff delivered the long ball in from the right, O’Callaghan caught it cleanly on the edge of the square and offloaded to the onrushing Scully who finished from close range.
Small added a point soon after and with 13 points now between the teams, an air of inevitability draped across proceedings.
Offaly outscored Dublin by 0-6 to 0-5 between the 41st and 66th minutes with Dylan Hyland hitting three of those points for the Faithful County.
But Dublin typically finished strongly, substitute Lorcan O’Dell firing two scores and defender Sean MacMahon even raiding forward to pinch a point.
Scorers for Dublin: Colm Basquel 1-3 (1f), Con O’Callaghan 1-2, Niall Scully 1-1, Cormac Costello 0-4 (2fs), Paul Mannion 0-3, John Small 0-2, Lorcan O’Dell 0-2, Ciaran Kilkenny 0-1, Cian Murphy 0-1, Brian Fenton 0-1, Killian McGinnis 0-1, Sean MacMahon 0-1.
Scorers for Offaly: Dylan Hyland 0-5 (2fs, 1 45), Keith O’Neill 0-3 (1m), Lee Pearson 0-1, Cathal Flynn 0-1, Jordan Hayes 0-1.
Dublin: Stephen Cluxton; Michael Fitzsimons, Sean MacMahon, Cian Murphy; Tom Lahiff, John Small, Eoin Murchan; Brian Fenton, James McCarthy; Niall Scully, Cormac Costello, Ciaran Kilkenny; Paul Mannion, Con O’Callaghan, Colm Basquel.
Subs: Lorcan O’Dell for O’Callaghan 53, Killian McGinnis for Costello 53, Ross McGarry for Mannion 55, Daire Newcombe for Murchan 55, Theo Clancy for McCarthy 63.
Offaly: Ian Duffy; Lee Pearson, David Dempsey, Declan Hogan; Cormac Egan, Peter Cunningham, John Furlong; Eoin Carroll, Jack McEvoy; Keith O’Neill, Ruairi McNamee, Jordan Hayes; Nathan Poland, Jack Bryant, Dylan Hyland.
Subs: Rory Egan for Poland h/t, Cathal Flynn for McNamee h/t, Kevin McDermott for Bryant 54, Cathal Donoghue for McEvoy 59, Jack O’Brien for O’Neill 66.
Referee: Paul Faloon (Down).
