Leinster MHC Semi-finals: There were scenes of great jubilation in Portlaoise on Saturday as Carlow celebrated a famous 2-15 to 0-16 victory over Offaly in the Leinster minor hurling championship semi-final.
Never before have Carlow won a provincial semi-final and with time almost up they trailed by a single point. But in a dramatic finish Carlow scored two goals and a point, the goals coming from their star forwards Paudie Kehoe and Pádraig Amond.
In the opening half Carlow looked the sharper team and points from Richard Coady, Amond and Kehoe saw them ahead 0-9 to 0-8. James Gorman, Ger Scales and Diarmuid Horan accounted for the Offaly tally.
Within two minutes of the resumption the sides were level and by the end of the third quarter Offaly led by two points. Carlow bounced back and points from Paudie Kehoe and Richard Coady saw the sides level with 10 minutes remaining. Offaly regained the lead with a James Gorman point but Pat Walsh levelled again for Carlow before they procuced their stunning finale.
Meanwhile, in the other semi-final Dublin surrendered their provincial minor hurling title when they lost 2-14 to 0-8 to Kilkenny. In what was a closely contested contest up to the final quarter, a goal from full forward Richard Hogan helped Kilkenny to a 1-5 to 0-4 interval lead, Paul Ryan accounting for all Dublin's scores.
Kilkenny were held scoreless in the third quarter but a goal from substitute Colin Fennelly and a sequence of 10 points in the closing 15 minutes sealed their deserved victory.
SCORERS
Carlow: P Kehoe (1-7), P Amond (1-4), R Coady (0-3), P Walsh (0-1). Offaly: D Horan (0-4), J Gorman (0-4), A Whelehan (0-2), G Scales (0-2), M Egan (0-2), D Currams (0-1), O Kealey (0-1).
Kilkenny: R Hogan (1-5), C Fennelly (1-0), J Mulhall (0-3), JJ Farrell and M Murphy (0-2) each, M Bergin and M Walsh (0-1)each. Dublin: P Ryan (0-5), S Murphy (0-2), D Kelly (0-1).
