Season is far from finished for some Dubs
Perhaps, a measure of the potential in Tommy Lyons’ team is that five of those who played against Armagh in Croke Park, form the spine of his under-21 side who will attempt to dethrone reigning All-Ireland champions Tyrone in Breffini Park.
For Paddy Canning, one of the team mentors working alongside Lyons, the remainder of the week is about raising the spirits of Paul Casey and Stephen Cluxton.
“Naturally enough, the lads are all very down after Sunday,” Canning said. “It is going to be difficult to lift them, but you can also look at it in another way, that the experience they gained during the senior campaign will hold them in good stead for this weekend.”
While Dublin’s exciting senior summer odyssey hasn’t helped matters, Canning is shrewd enough to know there may yet be knock on benefits at least in terms of support for Alan Brogan and company.
Another problem Dublin will have to surmount is the lengthy lull in this competition. The powers that be felt that the under-21 championship should coincide with the climax of the All-Ireland season, so the All-Ireland semi-finals had been fixed for the first week in September.
The problem was that the provincial councils, with the exception of Connacht, still ran their under-21 championship off during spring time, as has been the tradition. That has meant a long wait from winning the Leinster title to this All-Ireland semi-final.
“With the Leinster championship run off months ago, this is like a blitz, a two game competition, although there is an All-Ireland title at the end of it,” Canning said. “It’s a different type of football being played now. It’s summer football now, while in March and April, it was more like winter football. Some players were going well back then, other players are going well now.”
Still, for Dublin to be in an U-21 All-Ireland semi-final is a success. The grade has been neglected for years in the capital. Indeed their Leinster title ended an 18 year famine.
“There was a number of factors contributing to the problems with Dublin’s under-21s” Canning says. “Traditionally, the championship was played at a time when there was a lot of club activity in Dublin. Because of that, it was hard to get a panel organised and trained for the championship. Players weren’t interested when they had an important club game at the weekend.”
While Canning agrees the influence of Tommy Lyons has been a major reason for this year’s success, he also notes Dublin had some good under age talent coming through.
“This team would be the product of three minor sides, two that won Leinster and one that lost in the final, so we had three fairly good minor teams, which is the right number for a good 21 side, and that hadn’t happened in Dublin for a while.”
Although the likes of Brogan and Cluxton will mean Dublin have great expectations for this under-21 side, Canning is under no illusions how difficult Saturday’s game will be. Tyrone are the current minor and under-21 champions, and they won’t be in the mood to give up their crown without a fight.
“Tyrone are so good at under age football, they are the example we all should follow. So, it is not going to be easy. But, we hope to bring one All-Ireland to Dublin this year.”
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