Dublin, Meath, Kildare, Offaly and Laois all enjoyed wins in the new Leinster minor (U17) football championship which got underway this afternoon.

The championship is being run on a round-robin basis and Dublin - who are co-managed by Jason Sherlock and Ger Gleeson - opened their campaign with a flattering 3-15 to 1-7 victory over Louth at Parnell Park.

Dublin held a slender 0-8 to 0-7 lead at half-time, but looked to be in a spot of bother when Tom Jackson's goal put the Wee County a point up, 1-7 to 0-9, early in the second half. But the Dubs' response was devastating. A Mark O'Leary goal restored their advantage before Conor Murray and Liam Dunne added further majors as they reeled off 3-6 without reply in the final quarter.  

Meath, who won the inaugural Leinster U17 championship last year, were comfortable 2-20 to 2-7 winners over neighbours Westmeath at TEG Cusack Park.

The home side led by the odd point in nine after 20 minutes, but their challenge faded after Cian McBride's goal helped the Royals to a 1-8 to 0-7 interval lead.

The visitors registered an unanswered 1-6 after the restart - Luke Kelly raising their second green flag in the 36^th minute - to end the game as a contest before Ben McGauran (penalty) and Jack Torpey pulled back goals for Martin McCabe's charges.

Kildare were also 13-point winners, 1-17 to 0-7, over Wexford in Newbridge. The Lilywhites already had eight points on the board before the visitors opened their account and took a 0-12 to 0-2 lead into the break.

An Alex Beirne goal midway through the second half added gloss to the scoreline.

In Aughrim, Mikey Cunningham's second half goal proved decisive as Offaly edged out Wicklow by 1-13 to 0-14. The hosts led by 0-10 to 0-9 at the interval but had to play the entire second half with 14 men after Andy Foley was sent off on the stroke of half-time.

The Faithful eventually regained parity through Morgan Tynan before Cunningham's major decided it.

Laois are also up-and-running after beating Longford by 1-12 to 0-11 at O'Moore Park, but they had to withstand a late comeback by the visitors who had twice trailed by nine points in the second half.

Donncha Phelan's charges led by 0-8 to 0-3 at half-time and looked to be home and hosed when an Oisin Byrne goal was followed by a Sean Greene point to leave them 1-10 to 0-4 ahead after 36 minutes. But with Ciaran Dooner kicking 0-5, Longford fought back to reduce the gap to just three points before a late Seamus Farrelly point sealed Laois' win.

Dublin - S Murphy; N Hatton, A Fearon, A Rafter; R Dwyer, C O'Brien, M Lavin (0-3, 2f); E Adamson, C McManus; M O'Leary (1-3), C Murray (1-2), E Cashman (0-1); M Dunne (0-2), C Hennessy, S Foran (0-4). Subs: L Swan for C McManus, J Bannon for N Hatton, S Guiden for M Dunne, L Dunne (1-0) for C O'Brien, J Rooney for A Rafter, A Watson for M O'Leary.

Louth - M McEneaney; T Jackson (1-0), P McEvoy, N Buckley; C Fleming, C Shevlin, G Bell; C McCaul (0-1), J Mee; C Gillespie, R Hanlon, D Nally (0-4, 2f); S Healy, R Walsh (0-1f), J Commins. Subs: C Lennon for C Gillespie, M Begley (0-1) for R Walsh, P Johnson for R Hanlon, P Murtagh for P McEvoy, C Quigley for J Commins.

Referee - J Hickey.

**

Meath - S Brennan; J O'Hare, H O'Higgins, C Hickey; C Farrelly, C Harford, S Coffey; A Reilly (0-1), C McBride (1-0); C Hawdon (0-1), M Costello (0-3), B McCormack (0-4); D Bell (0-4, 2f), L Kelly (1-2), L Mitchell (0-1). Subs: O McCloskey (0-1) for S Coffey, D Morgan (0-2) for C Hawdon, B O'Hanlon (0-1f) for L Mitchell, L Newe for C Farrelly, D Swaine for C McBride, A Treanor for B McCormack.

Westmeath - S Fagan; D Seery (0-1), C Daly, S Murtagh; J McDonnell, E Martin, J Torpey (1-0); A Cronin, E Gaffney; O Raleigh, L Brennan, S Fleming (0-1); K O'Sullivan (0-1), B McGauran (1-3, 1-0pen, 0-3f), L Moran (0-1). Subs: A Donoghue for A Cronin, J Coffey for L Brennan, T Keena for B McGauran, M McCormack for E Martin, B Kelly for O Raleigh, J Gahan for S Fleming.

Referee - D Sheppard.

**

Kildare - J Ball; O O'Loughlin, S Hill, J Hamill; D Caulfield, L Broderick, P McDermott (0-1); D Costello, M Kiely (0-1); T Browne (0-2), A Beirne (1-5), M McGovern; M Curtin (0-5, 1f), P Behan (0-1), J Smyth (0-2). Subs: S Englishby for O O'Loughlin, S Morrissey for J Smyth, N Jackman for L Broderick, S Moore for P Behan, A Kennedy for S Hill, J Cleary for D Costello.

Wexford - A Larkin; J Sheehan, R Murphy, J O'Leary; O Gahan, M Kehoe, H Kehoe; E Cullen, C Kavanagh; J Finnucane, E Nolan, N Connolly; J Doran, L Jordan (0-7f), C Kehoe. Subs: A Breen for J Finnucane, J Devereux for A Breen, P Casey for N Connolly, C O'Reagan for M Kehoe, L Nolan for E Nolan, S Murphy for J Doran.

Referee - S Johnson.

**

Offaly - S O'Toole; A Brazil, K Dolan, B Nolan; E Cullen (0-1), R Egan (0-1f), H Balsiger; C Donoghue, M Tynan (0-2); P Bennett, S Courtney (0-2), M Cunningham (1-1); J Bryant (0-3), D Lowry (0-2), A Kellaghan (0-1). Subs: L Egan for P Bennett, L Pearson for A Brazil, C Delaney for A Kellaghan, B Coffey for J Bryant.

Wicklow - N Gaffney; F O'Carroll, D Lawlor, C McHugh; K Quinn (0-1), O Cullen, G Fogarty; S Doody (0-1), E Byrne; S Cranley (0-2), J Keogh (0-3), A Barrett (0-1); M Ging (0-3f), E Darcy (0-2), A Foley. Subs: C Grimes for C McHugh, S Daly (0-1) for S Cranley, T Moran for F O'Carroll, R Tomkins for M Ging, C Maguire for O Cullen.

Referee - A Coyne.

**

Laois - T Wright; S Greene (0-1), M Bennett, C Byrne; N Carey (0-1), C Bennett, E Delaney (0-3, 2f); B Conroy, J Lacey; S M Corcoran, S O'Neill (0-2), D Galvin (0-2); O Byrne (1-2, 0-2f), D Larkin, R Murphy. Subs: S Farrelly (0-1) for S M Corcoran, C Doyle for B Conroy, B Whelan for D Larkin, M O'Connell for J Lacey, J Kelly for E Delaney, R Bolger for C Byrne.

Longford - P Murray; R Kenny, D Ciglianio, C Nolan; C Belton, J Moran, P Dempsey; C Leonard, R Prior; C O Nuallain, E Finneran, D O'Connell (0-1); C Dooner (0-5, 3f), E McCormack (0-2), K McGann (0-2). Subs: A Quinn for O Nuallain, J Borland (0-1) for C Leonard, J Martin for K McGann, R Reilly for R Prior.

Referee - C Dwyer.

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