Pressure piling on busy U-21 footballers as they serve two masters

Damien Comer is not proud of being sent off twice in 24 hours, but it happens sometimes when you’re utterly committed to Galway football.

Indeed Comer continues his busy schedule over the coming weeks at senior and under-21 level, and he’s not alone.

With the Allianz Football League coming to a climax, and the provincial under-21 championships too, Comer is one of several young players trying to serve two masters.

He captained the Galway U-21s on Saturday (scoring 1-5 to help beat Mayo and claim a place in the Connacht final), then played with the Galway seniors on Sunday. They lost to Laois and so are in danger of relegation to Division Three.

Comer didn’t actually finish either game. He was black-carded, with eight minutes to go, in the U-21 game, and then sent off on two yellows against Laois.

“Yeah, three cards in one weekend,” says Comer, “and harshly, I might add. That’s the way it goes. You’d the high of the U-21 on Saturday, then go out with the seniors, and another loss. It’s important to just focus on the good I suppose.

Week off

“But Kevin Walsh (the Galway senior manager) is sound. He said to put up your hand, if you’re struggling. I probably hadn’t the energy I normally have, on the Sunday, but I was still happy to play. I felt fine after the game Saturday and I didn’t have any injuries so . . .

“Kevin actually gave me the week off from the seniors. And I only trained once with the U-21s, the Thursday night before the game. I was a bit sickened with the black card and was sweating up in the stand when Mayo started to come back, but thankfully our backs did enough to hold them out.”

That Connacht U-21 final, against Roscommon, is set for Saturday week, April 4th, while the Leinster U-21 final, featuring Dublin against Kildare, is set for Thursday week.

One of the players serving two masters there is Davey Byrne, full back on the under-21 team (managed by Dessie Farrell), while also trying to nail down a place on the senior team (managed by Jim Gavin).

“It hasn’t been fully decided yet as to what the situation will be for this weekend,” says Byrne, when asked if he will feature for the Dublin seniors against Derry in Croke Park. “It’s a little bit tough, at times, but for the moment our focus is on the under-21s.”

Byrne is actually one of eight Dublin players on both senior and under-21 panels (along with Lorcan Molloy, Eric Lowndes, Conor McHugh, Shane Carthy, Cormac Costello, Michael Deegan and Niall Scully). It helps that Gavin was the former Dublin U-21 manager, while Farrell is particularly sympathetic to player welfare given his role with the GPA, although Byrne agrees that not playing senior at this time of year may reduce the chances of making it this summer.

Very competitive

“Definitely,” says Byrne, also speaking at an under-21 event organised by sponsors EirGrid.

“You want to be around the seniors as much as possible. It’s a very competitive squad. You just have to hope Jim has a bit of trust in you, that you’re doing the right things with the U-21s.”

Another young player with an equally busy schedule is Tipperary’s Colin O’Riordan, who although still only 19 has nailed down a place with the county seniors as well as the U-21s.

He’s preparing for the Munster U-21 final against Cork on April 8th, while in the meantime also assisting Tipperary’s push for promotion from Division Three.

It could be worse – given O’Riordan is an equally deft hurler, and was called into Eamon O’Shea’s senior panel at the end of last summer. He didn’t actually feature, and is intent on playing football only for the immediate future.

“Football is first choice this year,” says O’Riordan. “I was in with the hurlers last year for a bit alright, and happy to get the chance, although it was hard, lads looking at you thinking ‘what’s going on here, a lad coming in after football as if hurling is only second fiddle to him’.

“And when you’re from Tipp hurling seems to be number one. But my father was a good footballer, and I grew up with him telling me football is his game, and that had a big influence on me. A few people would be saying ‘what are you doing playing football, you have a better chance of winning an All-Ireland in hurling?’ But if you love something you don’t just pack it in for something else.”