All Ireland U21 Championship 2012

[Syferus]

ell done to Dublin. Does losing to the "best u-21 team of all-time" make us the best u-21 team not to win the All-Ireland?

I haven't been following this thread but where is this comment re Dublin U-21's coming from  .... a load of nonsense imho - not saying they are not a very good U-21 team as the standard goes but i think you can only judge an U-21 team based on the impact they make at senior level in the following years.
The standard bearers in that regard in my opinion are the Kerry U-21 teams of the mid 90's ... Liam Hassett, Johny Crowley, Donal Daly, Dara O'Se, Dara O'Cinnedie, MF Russell, Diarmuid Murphy, William Kirby, Noel Kennelly, Killian Burns, etc. They won their U-21's and then delivered at senior level too bringing Kerry back from an unprecedented drought and by and large they formed the back-bone of Kerry teams for the next 10 years.
For Dublin, that means that U-21 team forming the backbone of the a senior team that will win something like 2 or 3 out of the next 7 to 8 senior titles (and for what its worth .... imho for that Ros U-21 team to be considered up there when looking back in 10 years time it will require winning a senior All-Ireland)

It was an off-hand comment, but your logic is faulty. A great u-21 team is a great u-21 team, no more or no less, what they do as senior is matterless as to how you judges their quality at this grade. Galway, better than most, know that having fantastic under-age sides doesn't mean success at senior, yet no one can question that those Galway u-21 and minor teams, hurling and football, were damn fine in their day.

For the record, I thought last year's Galway team were at least as impressive as this year's Dublin team.

Bittersweet side-note: the only teams to beat Roscommon at u-21 since 2009 have been the All-Ireland champions: Dublin, Galway and Dublin again. Keep knocking on the door, lads.

[Captain Obvious]

ell done to Dublin. Does losing to the "best u-21 team of all-time" make us the best u-21 team not to win the All-Ireland?

I haven't been following this thread but where is this comment re Dublin U-21's coming from  .... a load of nonsense imho - not saying they are not a very good U-21 team as the standard goes but i think you can only judge an U-21 team based on the impact they make at senior level in the following years.
The standard bearers in that regard in my opinion are the Kerry U-21 teams of the mid 90's ... Liam Hassett, Johny Crowley, Donal Daly, Dara O'Se, Dara O'Cinnedie, MF Russell, Diarmuid Murphy, William Kirby, Noel Kennelly, Killian Burns, etc. They won their U-21's and then delivered at senior level too bringing Kerry back from an unprecedented drought and by and large they formed the back-bone of Kerry teams for the next 10 years.
For Dublin, that means that U-21 team forming the backbone of the a senior team that will win something like 2 or 3 out of the next 7 to 8 senior titles (and for what its worth .... imho for that Ros U-21 team to be considered up there when looking back in 10 years time it will require winning a senior All-Ireland)

Correct this current Dublin side have a bit to go before reaching that level.

I don't think I could be more proud of our lads - our men - even if they had won.

A seven point defeat in All Ireland final and you couldn't be more proud? It was clear after the Cavan semi final Roscommon wouldn't have the forward power to cause upset.

[Syferus]

Seriously dude, don't start the troll machine tonight, it's in your best interests.

[stephenite]

Seriously dude, don't start the troll machine tonight, it's in your best interests.

We'll keep on the knocking on the door

[INDIANA]

ell done to Dublin. Does losing to the "best u-21 team of all-time" make us the best u-21 team not to win the All-Ireland?

I haven't been following this thread but where is this comment re Dublin U-21's coming from  .... a load of nonsense imho - not saying they are not a very good U-21 team as the standard goes but i think you can only judge an U-21 team based on the impact they make at senior level in the following years.
The standard bearers in that regard in my opinion are the Kerry U-21 teams of the mid 90's ... Liam Hassett, Johny Crowley, Donal Daly, Dara O'Se, Dara O'Cinnedie, MF Russell, Diarmuid Murphy, William Kirby, Noel Kennelly, Killian Burns, etc. They won their U-21's and then delivered at senior level too bringing Kerry back from an unprecedented drought and by and large they formed the back-bone of Kerry teams for the next 10 years.
For Dublin, that means that U-21 team forming the backbone of the a senior team that will win something like 2 or 3 out of the next 7 to 8 senior titles (and for what its worth .... imho for that Ros U-21 team to be considered up there when looking back in 10 years time it will require winning a senior All-Ireland)

Comparing u21 teams is a subjective process. I could pick plenty of holes in that kerry team above. The best u21 teams I saw were tyrone's in the mid-90's. And they should be a lesson for anyone because Tyrone didnt get as many off them as they might ahve thought.

Nobody from dublin has said it was the best u21 team of all-time. I wouldn't even say it was Dublin's best u21 team. If we get 4 senior players we'll have done well.

For 95% of that dublin squad yesterday that will be the highlight of their football careers. So they need to enjoy it. Very few are honoured to win an all-ireland medal.

[Rossfan]

Well our lads gave it their best shot and unfortunately it wasn't good enough as we were beaten by a good Dublin side who deserved to win on the day - but not by 7 points!!!.
A good game of football as you would expect from the U21 grade and nothing boring or negative about it.
We were in it till the last 10 minutes but once we stopped getting possession we were under the cosh. and never looked like saving the game once Dublin regained the lead.
Great work by Nigel, David, Eddie and company to get this bunch of lads to an All Ireland Final playing a good brand of football.
In David Murray , The 2 Dalys, Paddy Brogan,Compton and Donie Smith we have a few gems who will hopefully grace the Senior team for many a day to come.
Something like 10 of the team are under 21 again next year and while I know it doeasnt always follow I'd hope we could be giving the U21 A.I. a good rattle next year.

[heffo]

Well done Dublin, superior strength in depth did it for us on the day.

I'd imagine we'll see 3/4 of those lads into the Senior panel and would expect to see Kilkenny featuring if not starting come summer.

Hard luck Roscommon.

[Syferus]

Well our lads gave it their best shot and unfortunately it wasn't good enough as we were beaten by a good Dublin side who deserved to win on the day - but not by 7 points!!!.
A good game of football as you would expect from the U21 grade and nothing boring or negative about it.
We were in it till the last 10 minutes but once we stopped getting possession we were under the cosh. and never looked like saving the game once Dublin regained the lead.
Great work by Nigel, David, Eddie and company to get this bunch of lads to an All Ireland Final playing a good brand of football.
In David Murray , The 2 Dalys, Paddy Brogan,Compton and Donie Smith we have a few gems who will hopefully grace the Senior team for many a day to come.
Something like 10 of the team are under 21 again next year and while I know it doeasnt always follow I'd hope we could be giving the U21 A.I. a good rattle next year.

How can you forget Cathal Shine!? The most senior ready of the lot, once he gets more time to work his fitness back up he's going to be a diamond, be it in the middle or the full-forward line.

[ross matt]

Well done to both sides on a great match and congrats to the Dubs... deserving winners in the end. I think the young Rossies played to the best of their ability which was quite enough to win against a very powerful but patient Dublin side. The goal before half time was a killer and our midfield collapse in the 2nd half gave them an advantage that they used to great effect.

[johnpower]

Excellant match. I thought the Rossies had it but the Dubs proved too powerfull with a much stronger bench. It is an interesting debate in how good the u21 championship was but in my opinion how far off senior inter county standard? It was a lot more entertaining for a start. How many from both teams are on the senior panels?

[Rossfan]

Well our lads gave it their best shot and unfortunately it wasn't good enough as we were beaten by a good Dublin side who deserved to win on the day - but not by 7 points!!!.
A good game of football as you would expect from the U21 grade and nothing boring or negative about it.
We were in it till the last 10 minutes but once we stopped getting possession we were under the cosh. and never looked like saving the game once Dublin regained the lead.
Great work by Nigel, David, Eddie and company to get this bunch of lads to an All Ireland Final playing a good brand of football.
In David Murray , The 2 Dalys, Paddy Brogan,Compton and Donie Smith we have a few gems who will hopefully grace the Senior team for many a day to come.
Something like 10 of the team are under 21 again next year and while I know it doeasnt always follow I'd hope we could be giving the U21 A.I. a good rattle next year.

How can you forget Cathal Shine!? The most senior ready of the lot, once he gets more time to work his fitness back up he's going to be a diamond, be it in the middle or the full-forward line.

Embarrassing oversight 
Mind you I hope your confidence in his future is borne out.

[shawshank]

The two best players on the pitch was the Dublin midfielder (a class player, what a fetcher) and their corner forward, closely followed by the Roscommon 14

[Hound]

Excellant match. I thought the Rossies had it but the Dubs proved too powerfull with a much stronger bench. It is an interesting debate in how good the u21 championship was but in my opinion how far off senior inter county standard? It was a lot more entertaining for a start. How many from both teams are on the senior panels?

None of the Dubs on the senior panel yet, but its likely that 2 or 3 might get called up. The most likely are Kilkenny, McCaffrey, O'Conghaile and Sweeney. The first 3 were minor last year, so have another 2 years at U21 level.

Kilkenny has the ability to be a playing part of the squad this year. I think they'll want to give him a taster so he knows what his alternative to Australia is.

I'm sure McCaffrey will become a mainstay of the Dubs half back line, but not for another 2 or 3 years.

O'Conghaile is exactly what the Dubs are crying out for - biggest weakness of the senior team IMO is a man who can consistently win 50/50 high balls in the middle of the park. But I think he's a good year away from being at senior intercounty level. He's a very good hurler too (better than Kilkenny IMO).

Sweeney has been on the U21 team for 3 years now (so has 2 winners medals) and has been tipped for the senior team for quite a while, but hasnt been given the opportunity. Lovely footballer, great ball skills, not sure if he has the all round game to make it at senior intercounty level.

[ross4life]

Excellant match. I thought the Rossies had it but the Dubs proved too powerfull with a much stronger bench. It is an interesting debate in how good the u21 championship was but in my opinion how far off senior inter county standard? It was a lot more entertaining for a start. How many from both teams are on the senior panels?

C Cafferkey,C Daly,C Shine, N Daly;S Oates,N Kilroy, C Compton, D Smith,J McManus have all been part of our senior panel this year probably only Niall Daly will start vs Galway. Speaking of Galway they will have 13 from the under 21 All-Ireland winning squad from last year on their senior panel.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Very enjoyable final, well done to the Dubs. Roscommon played a very smart game I thought, pinning the Dubs back high up the pitch and attacking their kickouts. They needed to nick a goal to win it though but the chance never really arised. They were out on their feet after 50 mins and didn't have the quality on the bench that the Dubs had. they can hold their heads high.