Without ever setting the world on fire, Offaly still managed to beat Carlow by 0-13 to 0-9 in the first round of the Cadbury's Leinster U21 FC at Tullamore. Both sides had a man sent off - and there wasn't really much else to be getting excited about O'Connor Park on Sunday February 18 2007. The game was far from inspiring and the Faithfuls took some time to get into their stride. They made a sluggish start but eventually found some rhythm to lead by double scores at the interval, 0-8 to 0-4. The visitors were still very much in contention but the dismissal of corner forward Glen Doyle for a straight red card in the third quarter effectively sealed their fate. The winners lost top scorer Ken Casey (0-5, four frees) six minutes from the end, when the Offaly attacker picked up a second yellow for a foot block. But Offaly they still led by six points with time almost up. Two late Carlow points were only of statistical relevance. Centre forward Brian Murphy matched Casey as the game's joint top scorer but it was another disappointing day for the Barrowsiders. Tweet

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