LEINSTER SF SEMI-FINAL Dundalk Schools 3-15 St Mary's, Edenderry 4-3:CIARÁN BYRNE was the star of the show as Dundalk Schools bridged a nine-year gap by advancing to the final with nine points to spare over their Offaly opponents at Navan's Páirc Tailteann on Saturday.
Corner forward Byrne scored 2-8, all bar a point from play.
His finishing was in stark contrast to that of St Mary’s, who hit a string of bad wides as well as missing two goal chances in the first half.
They were made pay for such wastefulness as goals from Seán Thornton and Byrne boosted Dundalk Schools into a 2-6 to 0-2 interval advantage.
Goals from substitute Dean Cummins, Ciarán Hurley and Ger Leech revived the hopes of the Offaly school but 1-4 from Byrne in a six-minute spell ensured a Dundalk success.
DUNDALK SCHOOLS: D Breen; C Lenehan, D Smith, R Williams; Seán Thornton (1-1), D McMahon, S McAuley; P Reilly (0-1), J Stewart; K Hearty (0-1), Shane Thornton, C Doyle (0-2); C McKeever (0-1), A Sharkey (0-1, free), C Byrne (2-8, 0-1 free). Sub: R Quigley for Shane Thornton (60 mins).
ST MARY'S: C Cummins; E Holten, T Hickey, C McNamee; L Pender, E Farrell, P Fay; D Glynn, D Grehan; S Haslim, C Nolan (0-1), S Doyle; H Murrin, C Hurley (1-2, 0-2 frees), G Leech (1-0). Subs: D Cummins (1-0) for Haslim, G Long for Pender (both 21 mins), C Lawton for Glynn (half-time), L Djemedi (1-0) for Doyle (46 mins).
Referee: D Gough(Meath).
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)