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03rd Jan 2018

Dublin held by gallant Offaly with Colm Basquel and Cian Johnson cutting loose

Niall McIntyre

A great result for the Faithful county.

A last minute Cian Johnson point ensured Offaly shared the spoils with Dublin’s second string in their O’Byrne Cup clash in Parnell Park on Wednesday evening.

18-year-old Johnson sparkled again for the away side, scoring six points, and he is quickly making a reputation for himself as one of the brightest young talents in the country.

Bizarrely, the Ferbane club man has now represented his county’s senior side twice, with his debut coming against Wexford last week, despite not playing for his club’s adult team.

Johnson wasn’t the only youngster to show well on a blustery night in Donnycarney.

Paul Clarke took over the sideline duties for the reigning All-Ireland champions, with Jim Gavin and his team currently on holiday.

Clarke named a side that included five of last year’s All-Ireland under-21 winners in Sean McMahon, Glenn O’Reilly Chris Sallier, Brian Howard and Colm Basquel.

The home side flew out of the blocks, with a well worked Colm Basquel goal giving them the perfect start.

Indeed, by all accounts, the half forward was the best player on show for the Sky Blues, and he ended his evening with a creditable 1-6, 1-3 of which came from open play.

It looked for all the world as if Dublin would take this one, holding a three point lead with only five minutes left to play. To Offaly’s credit, though, they stayed plucking away and scored the last three points of the game to level it up.

It ended up 1-13 to 1-16.

Up next for Dublin is a trip to Wexford.

Here’s the rest of the results from the Bord Na Móna O’Byrne Cup games, with Kildare defeating Louth and Meath toppling Carlow.

Meanwhile, in the Connacht FBD League, Roscommon trounced Leitrim, while Galway defeated Sligo by four points on a scoreline of 1-12 to 0-11.

In Ulster’s McKenna Cup, the wins went the way of Fermanagh, Armagh, Donegal, Derry and Tyrone.

Fermanagh’s victory over Monaghan was, perhaps, the shock result of the night.

LISTEN: The GAA Hour – Klopp in Croker, flop in Kildare and the ‘worst fans’ award?

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Dublin GAA