It takes a special team to make a team like Mayo look so old, spent, lost.

The 18-year-old Rush attacker averaged 2-7 per game as Dublin lost the All-Ireland final to Cork.

Leaning against the wall outside a bouncing Cork dressing-room, happiness and contentment radiating from the broad smile he’s wearing, Cork U20 captain Peter O’Driscoll conveys his hope that this sensational come-from-behind final victory “will be the start of something”.

The Cork U20s overturned an early nine-point deficit to secure the county’s first All-Ireland football title since 2010.

The words have only just come out Tom Gray’s mouth when immediately he regrets them.

I had the privilege of assisting with the development of the Galway U20 footballers over the past few months. Our squad mantra was very simple: the players would endeavour to improve in every session. Our manager, Pádraic Joyce, picked no selectors. Instead, he opted for coaches.

Embarrassing. A crisis. Unacceptable. And those were the more moderate terms used in the media to describe the state of Cork football just last March following the county’s relegation to Division 3 of the Allianz league.

Cork U20 captain Peter O’Driscoll has described as premature the commentary which pronounced Cork football as being dead and buried.

Dublin U20 manager Tom Gray expressed relief after surviving Galway’s spirited challenge in the Eirgrid All-Ireland football semi-final at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.

Ciaran Archer was Dublin’s main target man as they demolished Longford in Glennon Brothers Pearse Park to advance to the Leinster U20 Football Championship semi-final.