UNDER-21 FOOTBALL ALL-IRELAND SEMI-FINALS: MALACHY CLERKINon how the careful nurturing of underage talent in both counties has enabled them to compete well with the traditional under-21 big guns such as Cork and Dublin

THE CONTRAST between the two All-Ireland under-21 semi-finals this afternoon could hardly be greater. In one, you have Dublin v Cork, the glamour tie to end all glamour ties.

You have the last two senior All- Ireland winners fielding teams laden with your Ciarán Kilkennys and your Damien Cahalanes and all points in between. You have live coverage on TG4, the whole nine yards.

On the other side of the draw, Cavan versus Roscommon in Pearse Park, Longford, pits together two of the least-populated counties in the country, neither of whom have seen a senior All-Ireland in over 60 years. There are decent players on both sides but nobody who has garnered half-page paeans in the national press just yet. They will, of course, make do with deferred coverage on the TV.

Yet, this is potentially the more interesting game, for the simple reason that Dublin and Cork are supposed to be kingpins at this grade. Under-21 is the net that stops three-quarter interested kids from finding something better to do with their time but it isn’t foolproof and every county leaks talent. In Cork and Dublin, there’s always somebody else. Sheer force of numbers guarantees it.

Not so in Cavan and Roscommon. Yet over the past three years, they’ve been arguably the most consistent under-21 performers in the land. They’ve both reached the past three provincial finals, winning two apiece and losing one.

Roscommon have beaten Mayo three seasons in a row, Cavan have had the whip hand over Tyrone for the past two years. Both counties have provincial titles to defend at minor level this year into the bargain.

When Congress delegates stand up and prattle on about good work at underage, this is what it looks like. It’s the result of careful tending of flowering buds, learning the lessons of blights past. In Cavan, they used to have a terrible habit of dragooning promising young starlets into the senior squad at the earliest opportunity. In 2003, for instance, they played Fermanagh in the first round of the Ulster Championship with no fewer than four players who were straight out of minor.

That doesn’t happen anymore. For the past two seasons, the under-21s have trained and played as one unit and have been almost uniformly unavailable to the senior panel during the league.

When there was a bout of nervousness over their Division Three status last year, they drafted in three players from the under-21s to get over the hump against Louth. Otherwise, they’re under-21 players until the under-21s are done with them.

For a team that has won two Ulster titles in a row, Cavan have carried remarkably few players through. Only Jack Brady, Michael Brady and Packie Leddy remain from last year’s team, with 10 of the 15 who started the Ulster final against Tyrone eligible again next year. They have a couple of gems in Kevin Tierney and Conor Moyna but it’s full-back Killian Clarke from Shercock who looks the stand-out prospect. Man of the match in last year’s Ulster minor final, he repeated the trick in this year’s under-21 decider, both times against Tyrone.

In Roscommon, there’s been no great secret. Just care and attention with their young players, very few of whom ever wander off the reservation. A run of five Connacht minor finals in six years has kept stocks reasonably high but the key to their success has been assiduous penning and fencing to keep the flocks together.

As a result, nine of the minor team who played against Kerry in the 2009 All-Ireland quarter-final started the under-21 Connacht final against Sligo a fortnight ago.

They’ve benefited from having a smattering of DCU players in their ranks who live and train together when they’re away from home. There’s continuity on the management side as well, with Nigel Dineen in charge this year after a couple of seasons working as selector under Jimmy Gacquin.

It’s looking possible that they will bring Clann na nGael midfielder Cathal Shine (no relation to Donie) back on board after he spent a huge swathe of last year laid up with an increasingly common osteitis pubis problem.

But their real strength is in their inside forward line, with Colin Compton and especially Boyle’s Donie Smith having done much of the damage so far. Any battle between Smith and Cavan’s Clarke will be worth seeing.

There will always be Dublins in All-Ireland under-21 semi-finals, just as there will always be Corks.

In pulling themselves up by their bootstraps these past few years, Cavan and Roscommon have let it be known there’s room for everyone else as well. That’s a good message to be sending out.