Leinster U21HC: Galway stroll by Offaly into semis
June 13, 2018.jpg)
Offaly's Brian Duignan with Ian O'Shea and Caelom Mulry of Galway
Galway 1-20
Offaly 0-8
Galway cruised past Offaly this evening in Tullamore to book their slot in the last four of the Leinster U21 hurling championship.
The young Tribesmen were comfortable from start to finish in this quarter-final tie as Sean Loftus' late goal cemented their date with holders Kilkenny next week for a final berth against either Dublin or Wexford.
It was Loftus that moved the winners into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead after 10 minutes in this one-sided contest and they kicked on with further singles from Brian Concannon and Sean Blehane (2) to lead by seven (0-11 to 0-4) at the break.
Evan Niland, scorer of 0-9, and Brian Duignan exchanged scores early in the restart before the former and Loftus widened the westerners' margin and that afforded them the luxury of emptying their bench, introducing Jack Canning to the fray with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts when they saw Oisin Kelly sent off on a straight red card with 11 minutes remaining.
Duignan pulled back a point for the Faithful men but the game was well and truly up for them once Concannon sent Loftus through and he ensured to take full profit from the attack by blasting to Offaly's net.
Tony Ward's charges now look forward to a semi-final clash with the Cats next Wednesday night at O'Connor Park.
Galway - Eanna Murphy; Shane Bannon, Fintan Burke, Ian O'Shea; Caelom Mulry, Mark Hughes, Sean Loftus (1-2); Tomás Monaghan, Jack Grealish; Seán Blehane (0-3), Brian Concannon (0-1), Cianan Fahy (0-4); Ronan Murphy, Evan Niland (0-9), Kevin Cooney. Subs: Cian Salmon for Murphy, Jack Canning (0-1) for Cooney, Andrew Greaney for O'Shea, Conor Caulfield for Mulry, Liam Forde for Blehane.
Offaly - Eoghan Cahill; Dylan Watkins, Michael Gilligan, Cathal O'Meara; Ross Connaughton, Ben Conneely, Cathal O'Brien (0-1); Paddy Delaney, Joe Keenaghan; Wayne Mooney (0-1), Oisín Kelly, Liam Langton; Brian Duignan (0-5), David Buckley, Conor Langton. Subs: Joe Maher for Connaughton, Ciarán Cleary for Mooney, Eoghan Callaghan for C Langton, Eimhin Kelly for L Langton, Eoin Woods (0-1) for Duignan.
Ref - D Hughes (Carlow)
