Last gasp Offaly goal denies Louth a first victory at the U20 grade

Leinster U20 Football Championship Group 2 Round 1

Louth 0-10 Offaly 2-4 

Sometimes football takes on a life of its own and draws you into the inevitable. Draw being the word.

A wet night in Stabannon, a three point gap, a long hopeful ball, a sense of urgency from the visitors, and panic in the hosts quarters after playing rightly into a winning position. That is all whipped up into a last gasp equaliser.

The late, late goal for Offaly in the 74th minute also carried added weight. This monkey seems to be getting heavier by the year on the Louth backs. Having performed manfully and looking set to pick up their first ever win at the under 20 grade, the victory crumbled like sugar paper in the Parnell rain.

The unwanted record was set to be squashed and long forgotten. That is what makes the result and good performance even crueller.

Apt that it would be All-Ireland winner John Furlong that finished it through a mass of bodies. Offaly were even down to 14 men at that stage, but Louth could not hang on. Getting their hands on primary possession being the main.

Wind was a huge factor from the outset for both sides and with added torrential rain, the conditions took a lot of on field adjusting for the young players and sidelines.

In the first half, Louth pitched their full team behind the ball when facing into the wind and it suited them. Ironically Offaly had the gale at their back to no advantage and they never intended nor indeed looked comfortable using the ball directly.

All those months of training and slogging in Darver had Louth comfortable in possession and fighting the elements. Kieran McArdle’s glowing reputation was given yet another layer as the young Brides man was a constant spark on the dreary night.

McArdle led a break away early on and could or should have went himself for the goal but in his honesty tried to play in Tadhg McDonnell for a certain goal. The opportunity was missed and proved costly, but McArdle was making silk out of a sow’s ear all night.

Midfielder in last year's outing between the two counties, Harry Plunkett struck two free's that provided some solace for the visitors, but they looked limited going forward minus the 2021 All-Ireland winning forwards of the calibre of Cormac Egan and Keith O’Neill.

Louth were disciplined and were rewarded in their attacks. The pacey duo of McArdle and Liam Flynn, who are eligible next season again, combined well to use their pace, breaking out of defence and scoring. Full forward Tom Mathews also put in an eye-catching block.

The performance was composed and Christy Grimes’ side had the further psychological boost of snatching the lead going into half time. Naomh Mairtin’s forward Darragh Dorian found the range to make it 0-3 to 0-2 after some slick hands engineered the opening.

Upon the resumption it did not get any better for Ken Furlong’s men as McArdle added a clever mark and half back Cameron Maher stretched the lead to a substantial three points.

The game really opened up and got even better for the men in red when they pushed on with their dominance to create a six point lead.

Playing on their home pitch in a Leinster championship match was exactly the advantage Seán Reynolds and Harry Butterly thrusted on the Faithful County. Reynolds first score was set up by Butterly before he cut inside to point on his left.

Reynolds was revelling now at this stage, he hammered home his second score to make it 0-9 to 0-3 with a little less than ten minutes on the clock. Understandably, the mindset shifted and missed free’s occurred as Louth looked to hang on and protect their hefty lead, considering the elements.

Alex Egan was lively when introduced. The Clara man finished off the rebound from his penalty that Josh Finlay did so well to save. Finlay’s kick outs and general play was worth taking a note of.

Egan’s finish set the comeback in motion and Geordi O’Meara crucially got the next score, their first from play with three minutes left to play. McArdle kept Louth’s scoreboard ticking and Cathal Ryan would pick up his second yellow card.

However, there was still time left on Patrick Coyle’s clock and Offaly made full use of it. Not that Louth didn’t keep the ball, but there was an element of playing for territory with long raking boots out the field.

Without possession, the pressure grew and grew. Furlong’s scramble in a mass of bodies ultimately broke Louth hearts with a somewhat unjust equaliser. Credit to Offaly for continuing to play, but Louth’s forbearance astonishing persists. 

LOUTH: Josh Finlay; Mark Holohan, Beanón Corrigan, Fionn Tipping; Cameron Maher, Seán Reynolds (0-2), Tadhg McDonnell; Dara McDonnell, Seán Callaghan; James Rogers, Kieran McArdle (0-4, 0-1 mark, 0-3 frees), Liam Flynn (0-1); Harry Butterly (0-1), Tom Mathews, Darragh Dorian (0-1). SUBS: Kyle McElroy for C Maher (Blood 20-29), McElroy for Flynn (Blood 41-43), Ben Gartlan for Rogers (59).

OFFALY: David Dunican; Daire McDaid, Diarmuid Finneran, Diarmuid O’Neill; Ben Heffernan, Cathal Ryan, Luke Bourke; John Furlong (1-0), H Plunkett (0-3 frees); Geordi O’Meara (0-1), Niall Furlong, Pauric Robbins; Dylan Byrne, Seán Conway, Jamie Guing. SUBS: Alex Egan (1-0) for N Furlong (43), Seán Finneran for Byrne (47), Luke Kelly for Guing (47), Tom Hyland for D O’Neill (53), Cian Murphy for Heffernan (71).

REF: Patrick Coyle (Meath)