Derry minor footballer, James Sargent.
Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor football quarter-final
DERRY 0-18 DUBLIN 2-10
Ulster champions Derry are through to the Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor football semi-finals after a hard-fought win over Dublin.
The Oak Leaf county were the better team for most of the contest, but a goal in each half meant Dublin were always in the game.
But they just didn’t quite have the same class in a attack as a Derry team that had stand-out performers in players like Turlough McHugh, Eamon Young, James Sargent, and Dylan Rocks.
The winning team enjoyed the better start, with points from Sargent, Rocks, and Young helping them into a 0-3 to no score lead after seven minutes.
But then Dublin drew level with their first goal of the match when Senan Bolger, as he has so often during this campaign, slotted a nice finish to the back of the net.
There was little between the teams for the remainder of the half, as Derry took a 0-8 to 1-4 lead into the dressing-room at the break.
Two points from Sargent gave Derry some early impetus at the start of the second-half, but then Dublin hit their second goal through the impressive Donach Magee to level the game up again.
The same man kicked a point to edge Dublin ahead by 2-9 to 0-14, but it was Derry who finished the stronger team with points from Sargent and Luke Grant earning them the win.
Scorers for Derry: E Young, J Sargent (1f), T McHugh (0-4 each), D Rocks 0-3, D McGuckin, R Biggs and L Grant 0-1 each
Scorers for Dublin: D Magee 1-3, S Bolger 1-1, R Doherty 0-3 (3f) H O’Neill (f), R Ennis, K McGinnis 0-1 each
DERRY: J McCloy; P O’Kane, R Canavan, R Collins; L Grant, C Ó Mianáin, D McGuckin; J Sargent, C McBride; E Young, T McHugh, C Hargan; C McCullagh, R Biggs, D Rocks. Subs: P Haran for R Collins (HT), G Dillon for C McCullagh (42), C Rocks for R Biggs (42), C McNally for P O’Kane (54)
DUBLIN: F McDonnell; S Devane, F Costello, J O’Keefe; J Kennedy, D O’Sullivan, R Ennis; K McGinnis, K Costello; C Loughran, D Magee, P Copeland; S Bolger, H O’Neill, R Doherty. Subs: J McNair for P Copeland (56), F Lydon for R Doherty (58), J Comiskey for S Bolger (62)
Referee: M McNally (Monaghan)
