Louth 1-6 Kildare 0-12
Meath 0-8 Westmeath 1-3
Kildare and Meath made light work of the elements to enter the final four of the EirGrid Leinster Under-20 championship after seeing off Louth and Westmeath on a horrific night weather-wise in the province.
Reigning champions Kildare rallied in the second half to beat hosts Louth 0-12 to 1-6 at a windswept Darver. The original venue of Stabannon could not handle the rainfall and so the game went ahead in delayed fashion at the county training base.
As a result, the opening half was a turgid affair with both sides literally throwing caution to the wind in favour of staying in the game. The sides went in level four point a piece and very little to say.
Kieran McArdle clipped over frees but Callum Bolton’s superbly taken brace reeled Louth in. An early second-half goal from Kyle McElroy had the host’s dander up but not for long as Louth could not build on the major whatsoever.
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Kildare punished on the counter that saw midfielder Shane Farrell score three second half points and Eoin Cully come off the bench to set up a date with Laois next Tuesday with a fine brace.
In Donaghmore, Ashbourne, the quarter-final was not so even. Meath defeated neighbours Westmeath 0-8 to 1-3 having led seven nil early in the second period. Senan Baker finally got Damien Gavin’s side off the mark in the 46th minute, but fair to say the damage had already been done.
Pacy Ciarán Caulfield opened the scoring and Eoghan Frayne did the damage after the short whistle. Even with midfielder Conor Gray picking up a black card the young Royals were rampant. Baker fired home a late penalty to save face but John McCarthy’s side were already thinking of the semi-final against Dublin.
