Hurling stars of the future send Louth crashing in cup last four

16 December 2020

DOWN’S U-17 hurlers pummelled their hosts by 46 points to storm into the final of the Peadar O Laithain Cup in Darver, Co Louth, on Sunday.

A thumping victory over their hosts ensured that Sean Young and his youthful cavalry wouldn’t be stopped in the quest to book their berth in next weekend’s final with Meath.

The result reflected the difference in standards on show. However, Meath should prove to be a tougher test.

Louth scored four points in the first half with Tom Mathews being their stand-out player over the hour. He scored 0-2 from play, plus a 30m free, with midfielder Conor Murphy chipping in to score on the 20th minute.

But nothing was going to stop Down rampaging through a defence which had no answer to the movement and skill of their neighbours.

When given the opportunity, Down picked off several long-range scores as Ryan O’Neill put in a man-of-the-match performance in the middle of the park.

O’Neill scored the opening goal inside the first five minutes and his midfield partner, James Duggan, scored a second goal prior to the water break.

Seven minutes from the break Michael Dorrian, whose power and movement were proving to be a constant thorn in the Louth defence won possession on the 45m line.

An intended hand pass was fortuitously blocked back into his hand, giving him the opportunity to break forward and with just Conor Whyte facing him in the Louth goal he despatched to the net for Down’s third.

In Tom McGrattan, Down had a captain who led from the front — he scored an impressive eight points in the first half.

Oisín Coulter, Fergal Gilmore, Francis Caldwell and wing-back Finn Turpin all contributed points as Down ended the half with a fourth goal courtesy of Gilmore for a huge 23-point half-time lead.

With such a big advantage, Down didn’t intend on making thing any easier on their Leinster neighbours in the second half.

They continued to drive forward and with a flurry of changes from the bench, they still managed to add a further 5-10 to their tally.

Midfield maestro O’Neill continued to dominate. With Deaglan Mallon, Fionn McFall, Ciaran Savage and Nathan Kelly calm and unshakeable in defence, Louth were limited to just two points in the second half.

Oisín Coulter netted for a fifth time after 12 minutes before the hard-working Francis Caldwell scored four goals in a six-minute blitz in the closing quarter of the game.

Credit has to be paid to Louth who, drawing from a small panel, are in the process of building towards next season’s Celtic Challenge.

They competed to the bitter end when faced with a side who were much more accustomed to playing at a higher level.

Down manager Sean Young said he was pleased with the result and delighted that his players were given to the chance to play.

“I thought our defence stuck to their task and repelled anything that the Louth attack threw at them,” he remarked.

“The midfield worked tirelessly and we had a broad range of scorers too. However, it was a collective effort and would be hard to single out any individual”.

He added: “Meath will be a different challenge altogether next week. Any mistakes we make will be punished, but look we’re playing hurling in December in a competition we thought wasn’t going to happen.

“We’re just grateful we have something to aim for. It’s brilliant we have an outlet for the squad to come into a team environment and enjoy themselves.”

Down: P Smyth, J Higgins, D Mallon, N Kelly, F Turpin (0-1), C Savage, F McFall, R O’Neill (1-3), J Duggan (1-0), R Corcoran, T McGrattan (0-12, 0-6f), M Dorrian (1-5), O Coulter (1-2), F Caldwell (4-0), F Gilmore (1-2).

Subs: R McGrath for Smyth, J McCollum for Kelly, F MacManus for Gilmore, O McGrattan for Higgins, A Rogan for Corcoran.

Louth 0-6

Down 9-25

PEADAR O LAITHAIN CUP SEMI

Tweets by @TheDownRecorder