Niall Scully certain 'phenomenal footballer' Ciarán Archer can push on from O'Byrne Cup launchpad

Farrell has used eight players in this season’s O’Byrne Cup — including Archer — that played in the 2019 All-Ireland U20 final defeat to Cork

Thu, 20 Jan, 2022 - 06:00

Paul Keane

With Dublin manager Dessie Farrell playing just shy of 40 players so far in the O’Byrne Cup, newcomers would do well to heed any advice from the experienced Niall Scully.

Five O’Byrne Cup appearances in the 2017 campaign proved to be the hard-working half-forward’s launchpad as a Dublin player and his stats since then are incredible.

In the Championship, Scully has started 28 of Dublin’s 32 games between 2017 and 2021 while, in the league, he has lined out for 31 of Dublin’s 34 games in the same period.

With 59 starts from a possible 66 in the League and Championship since 2017, he is the poster boy for the O’Byrne Cup and the possibilities that exist for any newcomer that truly applies himself early in the season.

Of the 39 players that Dublin have used so far this term, Ciarán Archer, who made his debut against Longford last Saturday and who could feature again in Saturday’s final, is the most intriguing.

Archer powered Dublin to the 2019 and 2020 All-Ireland U20 finals, scoring a staggering 10-35 in 2019 and adding 1-24 the following season. The big hope is that, like Scully, Archer can use the O’Byrne Cup as his own launchpad to senior stardom.

“Look, Ciaran is obviously a phenomenal footballer and has proven that in the underage groups as well,” said Scully.

“It’s a chance now for Ciaran to push on into the senior group, which I’m sure he will. There’s a lot of younger lads there that are going to push through and that we’re going to need this year and going forward.”

EXTRA BOOST: Dublin forward Niall Scully says manager Dessie Farrell is keen for senior players to give younger lads an extra boost in games and to help them be able to perform. Picture: Evan Treacy

Farrell has used eight players in this season’s O’Byrne Cup — David O’Hanlon, Kieran Kennedy, Peadar Ó Cofaigh-Byrne, James Doran, Archer, Ross McGarry, David Lacey and Harry Ladd — that played in the 2019 All-Ireland U20 final defeat to Cork. Four more players — Adam Rafter, Lee Gannon, Mark Lavin and Lorcan O’Dell — featured in the 2020 final loss to Galway and have also enjoyed game time this month. That’s a heck of a lot of experimentation and, ideally, Farrell would pick up another defender or two and a couple of players to beef up his bench. As for Archer, if he could rekindle his U20 scoring form then he’d surely become a regular in attack just like Scully did.

“Of course he can,” enthused Scully, insisting Archer has the capability to make the step up.

“The biggest thing is that everybody is different, you know, it took me three or four years to transition from U20s to senior. It took Ciaran Kilkenny no years to transition. Everybody is different and everybody takes their own time to get up to senior level in comparison to U20s.”

Dublin used the O’Byrne Cup in recent years to look at their developing players though Kilkenny, James McCarthy, Brian Fenton, John Small and Scully himself have all featured this season.

“I think that’s what Dessie has been keen to provide this year, those senior players to give the younger lads an extra boost in the games and to help them be able to perform,” said Scully.

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