Dublin intent on keeping Meath U21s in a stranglehold

The rivalry at senior level has gone pretty pear-shaped and Dublin would like to keep it that way at U-21 level too. By hosting Meath in Parnell Park this evening they’ll look to extend an edge on their neighbours that stretches back to 2001.

That’s the last time Meath won a Leinster U-21 football title, while Dublin have collected eight in the meantime – including last year. Meath have already surrendered home advantage for this quarter-final due to floodlight issues at Páirc Tailteann, which means Dublin host them.

Not that Dublin’s Eoin Murchan is taking Meath for granted, nor indeed should he. One of the few players returning from last year’s Dublin under-21 team, Murchan must be content with a place on the bench for this evening’s game, yet given his experience he is likely to see some action.

“We have lost a lot of players from last year, so it’s a clean slate, nearly completely new,” says Murchan, from the Na Fianna club. “We feel we’ve a strong team, have a few good lads coming up from minor, so we’re hoping to do something again this year.

“But you know when you’re playing Meath, when they see a Dublin jersey, they’ll go all guns blazing for you. They had a good minor team last year, have some big players coming through as well now.”

One big player for Dublin’s U-21s actually comes from famous Kerry stock, with wing back Daragh Spillane – who plays his club football with Cuala – a son of Kerry’s seven-time All-Ireland winner Mick Spillane, and thus a nephew of his brother, Pat.

There is one strong link to Dublin’s 2015 U-21 team, and indeed the team that won the 2014 All-Ireland, in the form of manager Dessie Farrell.

Despite expectations that he would step down after last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Tipperary, Farrell is back for another year.

Good group

“Yeah I suppose last year would have been his group that he brought all the way up through the development squads and minor,” Murchan says of Farrell.

“But I wasn’t really surprised he stayed on. He probably saw something, saw there was a good group of players and maybe that we could do something again.

“And I suppose you’d always be disappointed as a manager, losing in a semi-final. Because the ultimate goal is to win it. That’s what you’re in it for really. So I’d say he was disappointed. But he wouldn’t show it. He’s just set again for another year now.

“He’s also a good man manager. He looks at people as individuals, not just as footballers. He’s interested in all sides of things. He also demands a lot from you. He wants you to be the best you can be. And he demands a lot from his management team as well, which drags everyone along.”

Of the team named for this evening, only goalkeeper Lorcan Molloy, full back Martin Cahilan and midfielder Andy Foley were part of last year’s U-21 team. Full forward Con O’Callaghan is their only player who has also appeared for the Dublin seniors this year, and that limited crossover, says Murchan, makes for a tighter group.

A group

“It’s been good for us, in a way, because last year we would have had seven or eight away with the seniors, so we’d be missing a lot of players for a lot of the year. This year, there’s a good core group and we’ve been able to gel and bond because we’re always together.

“So there wouldn’t be any big name players. But we’re more of a group, rather than relying on any individuals.”

In this evening’s other quarter-finals, Wexford host Westmeath at Enniscorthy, Kildare host Offaly at Hawkfield, and Laois host Wicklow, O’Moore Park. All games throw-in at 7.30. This will also be the last U-21 football championship in its current guise, given the decision at Congress over the weekend to regrade the competition to U-20, and also to play it during the summer as an exclusively developmental age grade, with no participants eligible for senior intercounty.