Adam Screeney points way to Offaly’s win over Laois in Leinster U20 hurling quarter-final
Leinster U20 HC quarter-final: Offaly 1-28 Laois 2-9
Adam Screeney notched 15 points for Offaly against Laois
A scintillating first-half from Offaly fired them through to next week’s Leinster U-20 semi-final with the minimum of fuss in Tullamore, with Adam Screeney notching up 0-15 over the course of the hour for the Faithful men.
A blistering start from the home side saw them post up five points in the first three minutes, including two glorious scores from the sideline from Barry Egan and Screeney.
Colin Spain whipped over a sideline cut and senior star Dan Bourke had another excellent catch and finish as Offaly made it 0-8 to 0-1 after eight minutes, and they never really looked back from there.
Cormac Byrne found the net for Laois just before half-time and the visitors had the better of the early exchanges in the second half too, with Byrne showing strength and poise to find the net a second time.
Cormac Hogan hoisted over two magnificent points from distance as Laois briefly got back to within seven points, but without ever catching fire as they did in the opening half hour, Offaly quietly set about their work and four consecutive points from Screeney pushed them out of sight again.
A goal from Dan Bourke and a red card for Laois wing-back Tom Cuddy were footnotes late in the game as Laois visibly faded out of the game, allowing Offaly to drop the pace and still control proceedings through to the final whistle.
Scorers – Offaly: A Screeney 0-15 (0-11f), D Bourke 1-3, S Rigney 0-4, C Spain 0-3 (0-1 sideline), A Kavanagh 0-2, B Egan 0-1. Laois: Cormac Byrne 2-1, C Comerford 0-2, C Hogan 0-2, J Quinlan 0-1, Colin Byrne 0-1, J Cuddy 0-1f.
Offaly: L Hoare; R Kelly, B Miller, J Mahon; T Guinan, B Kavanagh, D Shirley; C Spain, C King; S Rigney, D Bourke, C Doyle; L Kavanagh, B Egan, A Screeney. Subs: M Dalton for Doyle (43), A Kavanagh for L Kavanagh (45), E Burke for Spain (53), P Taaffe for Mahon (55), C Larkin for Egan (58).
Laois: B O’Reilly; D Dooley, C Cuddy, C Flynn; T Brennan, E Cuddy, T Cuddy; C Comerford, C Hogan; C Fitzpatrick, J Breen, B Deegan; J Quinlan, Colin Byrne, Cormac Byrne. Subs: A Phelan for Deegan (half-time), J Duggan for Fitzpatrick (37), J Cuddy for Breen (45), J Pearson for C Cuddy (48), J Hyland for Colin Byrne (60+2).
Referee: Matthew Redmond (Kildare).
