GAA round-up: Offaly beat Dublin to book place in O’Byrne Cup semi-finals

Offaly inflicted a three-point defeat on Dublin at Parnell Park on Wednesday night to book a place in the semi-finals of the O’Byrne Cup.

The Faithful County’s 0-11 to 0-8 win over the Dubs means they will now travel to face Louth in a semi-final on Sunday, with Longford awaiting the winners in the final.

Despite Dublin again fielding a largely experimental side, this was a significant scalp for Liam Kearns as he begins his spell as Offaly manager.

On a miserable wet and windy night in Parnell Park, Killian O’Gara kicked the first score to edge Dublin ahead early on. But by the quarter hour mark Offaly had taken the lead and the visitors kept their noses in front until the final whistle.

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Offaly led 0-5 to 0-3 at the break, with all of Dublin’s scores coming from O’Gara, and the home side never closed the gap beyond that two-point margin for the remainder of the game. Dylan Hyland kicked some nice scores for Offaly, while Bernard Allen’s injury-time point ensured Offaly’s victory on the night.

Longford played out a 0-10 to 1-7 draw against Meath in Ashbourne, a result that sees them through to the decider following earlier wins over Laois and Carlow.

Longford led 0-6 to 1-2 at the turnaround and while Meath rallied back after the break, a draw sufficed for Paddy Christie’s Longford to qualify for the final.

Meanwhile, following Wednesday night’s results, this year’s Dr McKenna Cup semi-final pairings have been confirmed – with Cavan to face Tyrone on Saturday in Breffni Park at 5pm and Down to host Derry on Sunday in Páirc Esler at 1.30.

Dara McVeety was named Man of the Match after helping Cavan to a 1-14 to 1-9 victory over Armagh at Breffni Park on Wednesday night.

McVeety is back involved with the Cavan squad this season for the first time since 2019, having moved to Australia for a period.

It was 1-6 to 0-9 at the interval with Ryan O’Neill scoring an early goal for Cavan. The game also marked Raymond Galligan’s 100th senior appearance for the county.

Galligan has played 83 times as a goalkeeper for Cavan and 13 times outfield. Of those appearances, 15 have been in the McKenna Cup, 54 in the National League and 31 in the Championship.

Armagh made wholesale changes at half-time and Cavan were able to seize the initiative and build up an eight-point advantage during the second half.

Armagh netted a late goal but Cavan had built up a big enough cushion to see out the game and advance to the semi-finals.

A 0-10 apiece draw in Owenbeg was enough for both Derry and Tyrone to advance to the last four.

Tyrone led 0-7 to 0-4 at half-time, including three points from Cathal McShane. The visitors led by a point deep in injury-time at the end of the second half but a superb monster right-footed point by Lachlan Murray earned Derry a share of the spoils, and a place in the semi-finals.

Monaghan beat Donegal 0-15 to 2-7 in Ballybofey, but it was not enough for the Farney County to make the knockout stages.