All Ireland U21 Football Final Cavan v Galway, 1st May Croke Park

[GalwayBayBoy]

HS match report and scorers up.

All-Ireland U21 FC final: Galway too strong for Cavan

It was all too easy for Galway as they crushed Cavan by 2-16 to 1-9 in the U21 FC decider at sunny Croke Park.

Man of the Match Mark Hehir scored eight points for the runaway winners, who were served by a series of stellar performances all over the pitch on the biggest day of their careers thus far.

After a slow start, Galway took control of the first half to lead by eleven points at the interval, 2-10 to 0-5, with the goals coming from Patrick Sweeney and Eric Monaghan, while Hehir arrowed over five points.

The Breffni County got off to a fantastic start when Niall Smith ran half the length of the field unchallenged to fist the ball over the bar at the Hill 15 end inside 20 seconds. But wing back Josh Moore replied immediately with an excellent point from distance.

Cavan custodian Alan O'Mara dealt capably with the next Galway attack and Barry Reilly had the Ulster champions back in front when he clipped over a fabulous point off his left boot. But captain Gearoid McKiernan's effort to stretch the gap tailed narrowly wide. 0-2 to 0-1 in Cavan's favour after five minutes.

When Packie Leddy fouled Aonghus Moore, the Cavan defence was caught sleeping by a quick free to Moore, who popped over his second point to level the scores again. Midfielder Fergal Flanagan had Cavan in front for the third time but the Tribe replied quickly again, this time via Danny Cummins.

Good work from Eric Monaghan and Patrick Sweeney earned the Connacht champions a close-range free, resulting in a yellow card for wing back Kevin Meehan and a pointed free from Mark Hehir, which saw the men in maroon take the lead for the first time: 0-4 to 0-3 with 14 minutes played.

Cummins added his second point moments later and there were two between the sides for the first time. In the 15th minute Galway bagged a goal after an unbelievable scramble. Midfielder Tomas Flynn saw his initial shot deflected onto the crossbar by Cavan keeper O'Mara; when Cummins kept the ball in play, Flynn again hit the bar; but full forward Sweeney was on hand to palm the loose ball across the line, despite the best efforts of O'Mara.

Hehir (free) and Cummins added points and daylight had appeared between the teams by the time Hehir popped over his first point from open play on 19 minutes: 1-8 to 0-3. Cavan were unlucky when McKiernan again missed the target but they were left scratching their heads as Monaghan had time to retrieve the ball after dropping it and fired a second Galway goal to the net in the 21st minute, leaving eleven points between the teams.

In contrast, when Leddy lost control of the ball at the other end, there were Galway defenders all around him and the chance was gone. Hehir floated over a ninth Galway point, his second from play: 2-9 to 0-3. Niall Murray dropped a weak shot into the arms of the Galway goalkeeper Maurice Breathnach. Reilly tapped over a free - Cavan's first score in 18 minutes.

The Breffni boys were almost in for a goal after great direct play from Smith but full forward Niall McDermott was crowded out. On the stroke of the half-hour, McDermott demonstrated great strength and perseverance to strike a fine point from play, closing the gap to ten points.

But the unerring Hehir dropped over a long-range free in the first minute of added time at the end of the first half, leaving eleven in it at the short whistle. Cavan had led by a point approaching the ten-minute mark and were just a point adrift coming up to the end of the first quarter, but Alan Mulholland's charges completely bossed the second quarter to end the match as a contest.

Michael Boyle strolled through to increase the gap within a minute of the restart and substitute Adrian Murphy came close to adding another but ran out of space. Cavan centre forward Niall Murray took a great point on 32 minutes after more great work from Smith.

Cavan were handed a possible lifeline in the 34th minute when Gary Sweeney was adjudged to have fouled McDermott, who'd made a great catch - penalty! But Breathnach saved Reilly's kick with ease before McKiernan sent a shot wide and corner forward Jack Brady failed to take advantage of another brief Cavan goal chance.

Boyle drilled over a free from the ground from distance to make it treble scores, 2-12 to 0-6, with eight minutes played in the second half.

Murray and McDermott pulled back points for the losers but Cummins slotted over a super Galway point at the start of the final quarter. Brady tapped over a free from his hands as Cavan kept trying hard.

As the game petered out and lost its shape completely, Hehir tapped over another free from close range and Conor Doherty followed up with a point from play on 57 minutes.

Cavan manager Terry Hyland made his fifth substitution, introducing Conor McCleary, and the No.17 had the ball in the net within seconds, having been placed brilliantly by McDermott. Hehir claimed his eighth point - this one from play - in injury time

Galway: M Breathnach; G Sweeney, C Forde, A Tierney; J Moore (0-2), J Duane, T Fahy; F Ó Curraoin, T Flynn; M Boyle (0-2), M Hehir (0-8), C Doherty (0-1); D Cummins (0-4), P Sweeney (1-0), E Monaghan (1-0). Subs: A Murphy, M Farragher, B Flaherty, C Silke

Cavan: A O'Mara; M Leddy, O Minagh, D Tighe; K Meehan, D Barkey, M Brady; G McKiernan, M Leddy (0-1); N Smith (0-1), N Murray (0-2), B Reilly (0-2); J Brady (0-1), N McDermott (0-2), P Leddy. Subs: P King, T Mooney, K Tierney, N McKiernan, C McCleary (1-0).

[cavanmaniac]

Well done Galway, by far the superior outfit. At least we rallied a small bit in the second half anyway but it's small recompense. We couldn't match Galway for pace, or at midfield, and there were too many holes to plug every time they attacked.

We lost a final at this level in 1996 and won a senior provincial the year after and we'll have some players off this team for our seniors, as well as the whole underage scene hopefully getting a shot in the arm for the next few years as well. I'd rather reach a final and lose in that manner than not have got there at all, underage is all about feeding the senior team eventually after all. It's not all bad.

Fair play to Galway, they could emerge as a power at senior level again with a lot of those lads, big big men and plenty of ability. Well done.

[GalwayBayBoy]

RTE match report and scorers

Galway won their fourth All-Ireland Under-21 football title with a 10-points win over Cavan at Croke Park.

All the damage was done in the first half, when the rampant Tribesmen built up an 11 points lead from which the Ulster men were unable to recover.

Patrick Sweeney and Eric Monahan both hit the net to lay the foundations for Galway's first success at this level since 2006.

In the second half, Cavan's Barry Reilly had a penalty saved by Manus Breathnach, but they did pull back a late goal through substitute Conor McClarey.

Galway took some time to get into their stride, but once they did, they proved a devastating attacking force.

The Cavan defence was unable to cope with the movement and pace of a fast-moving offensive unit that cut swathes through their opponents' shaky defensive formation.

Wing-back Joss Moore pushed forward to shoot a couple of points, and Danny Cummins showed blinding speed to race through for a point, when with another stride or two, he could have had a goal.

It wasn't long, though before the Tribesmen had the ball in the net.

After Mark Hehir and Cummins had shot them into a 0-05 to 0-03 lead, full-forward Patrick Sweeney fisted home at the third attempt, after Tomas Flynn twice hit the bar in a dramatic goalmouth incident, his first effort superbly deflected onto the woodwork by goalkeeper Alan O'Mara.

Hehir and Cummins added to their tallies, and in the 21st minute, Eric Monahan finished off a move involving Michael Boyle and Tomas Fahy to blast home a second Galway goal.

Flynn and Fionntan O Curraoin were lording it at midfield, and at 2-09 to 0-03, it seemed like an eternity since Niall Smith and Barry Reilly had give Cavan hope with early scores.

Reilly and Niall McDermott did add further points, but they trailed by 11 at the break, 2-10 to 0-05.

Prospects for a Breffni comeback were dealt a blow when Manus Breathnach saved a Barry Reilly penalty four minutes into the second half, and moments later Galway centre-back Jonathan Duane made a superb interception as Jack Brady tried to release Packie Leddy on goal.

Cavan, now with the wind in their backs, did pull back points through Niall Murray, Kevin Tierney and McDermott, but the Connacht champions were comfortably able to maintain their healthy lead, with Cummins and Michael Boyle hitting superb points.

They could have had a third goal when Boyle sent Michael Farragher through, but the sub blasted wide.

Galway were never in danger of losing this one, however, even when cavan sub Conor McClarey slid home a late goal with his first touch.

Galway: M Breathnach, G Sweeney, C Forde, A Tierney, J Moore (0-02), J Duane, T Fahy, T Flynn, F O Curraoin, C Doherty (0-01), M Hehir (0-07, 4f), M Boyle (0-02, 1f), D Cummins (0-04), P Sweeney (1-00), E Monahan (1-00).

Subs: A Murphy for Sweeney, M Farragher for Monahan, B Flaherty for Boyle, C Halloran for Fahy, C Silke for Tierney.

Cavan: A O'Mara, M Leddy, O Minagh, D Tighe, K Meehan, D Barkey, M Brady, G McKiernan, F Flanagan (0-01), N Smith (0-1), N Murray (0-1), B Reilly (0-02, 1f), J Brady (0-01, f), N McDermott (0-02), P Leddy.

Subs: P King for M Leddy, T Mooney for Tighe, K Tierney (0-01) for Reilly, N McKiernan for King, C McClarey (1-00) for Meehan

Referee: E Kinsella (Laois)

[CC1]

Sickened that the lads didn't play to their potential today... Disappointed for them but Galway were superb, and deserved all Ireland u21 champs. Well done.

[galwayman]

Just in the door from Croker. Super team performance from the lads. O'Curraoin was my man of the match at midfield but everyone played a huge part in this win.
The first half performance blew Cavan out of the water and we were never likely to lose an 11 point half time lead.
Cavan just never got out of first gear at all today.
Our defence was superb also especially captain Colin Forde at number 3 who I thought was immense.
Danny Cummins really stepped up to the plate today. The big pitch seemed to really suit his game and he gave a torrid time to any of the Cavan backs who were switched onto him.
Congrats lads.
Marun agus ban abu

[BallyhaiseMan]

Sickened with that today.
Oisin Minagh,Damien Barkey,Niall Murray and Niall Smith were the best for Cavan,
Niall McDermott and Jack Brady tried hard,but the quality and amount of ball going in was pathetic.
That 10/12 minute period where Galway scored 2-05 without reply ended the game as a contest in the first half.

For Galway,Mark Hehir,Danny Cummins and Michael Boyle were the 3 best players on the park by a country mile.
Absolute class acts,and all 3 will undoubtably represent the Galway seniors  in the near future.
Congrats to GBB,Seafoid and all the other Galway posters.
Today was desperately dissapointing,but it was a very good year overall.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Just back from Croke Park now, superb win for the U-21's, congrats to all the lads on the panel, the management and the backroom staff.

There is no doubt that Cavan panicked after they went so far behind and started going for goal chances way too early when they should have kept the points ticking over. It would have been a closer result in the end had they done this but that said Galway were a class apart on the day and were better on every line on the pitch in my opinion. Cavan seemed to start well enough but once Galway put the boot down they couldn't stick with them at all.
There was a massive crowd from Cavan there today and it was unfortunate that they didn't get a better performance on the day from the team, if it wasn't Galway ye were facing I'd have been shouting for ye today, great crowd and a real footballing county no doubt.

This is a major shot in the arm for Galway football after the very disappionting results the Seniors had in the league, hopefully we can get 4-5 players from the panel through to senior over the next year or so, the midfielders in particular need to be minded as it's an area that's been a problem area for years.

[mylestheslasher]

Hard luck to our lads. Still proud of what they achieved this year but today was not to be. Well done to Galway, by far the best team on the day. Some tremendous players and they completely wiped us out at midfield. I reckon we will see a lot of these players with the Galway seniors in the next years. Hopefully both Cavan and Galway senior teams will push on and maybe meet again in later stages of the championship.

[galwayman]

Was interesting today also that some of our best players on the day - Mark Hehir, Michael Boyle, Aonghus Tierney & Joss Moore didn't play minor for Galway (certainly as far as I'm aware none of the 4 played minor c'ship for Galway anyway).
Just goes to show that lads develop differently and not playing county minor shouldn't rule anyone out when it comes to the 21s.

[Denn Forever]

Well done Galway.  Absolutely lorded midfield and our lads seemed to be awestruck (well it was Croke Park).

Was hoping that History would have been made but unfortunately it was for the other Blue team.

Hopefully it will be a start.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Was interesting today also that some of our best players on the day - Mark Hehir, Michael Boyle, Aonghus Tierney & Joss Moore didn't play minor for Galway (certainly as far as I'm aware none of the 4 played minor c'ship for Galway anyway).
Just goes to show that lads develop differently and not playing county minor shouldn't rule anyone out when it comes to the 21s.

True. You would wonder how someone like Hehir or Boyle never played minor but I guess it's possible that lads can develop at different ages as well.

That's Galway's 3rd U-21 All-Ireland in the past decade which is pretty good going. In fact it's more than anyone else has managed including Cork. The county is still producing plenty of young talent but it hasn't quite come together at senior level. Hopefully some of these lads and maybe Alan Mulholland can change that in the next few years. Overall I think this is a much better balanced team than the side that won the 2005 final. That side was very reliant on Meehan and Armstrong to produce magic (which they did in fairness). This year's team doesn't really have any big stars but they are strong in every line of the field and won the All-Ireland without arguably their best forward in Peadar O'Griofa (granted he's only out of minor). You would nearly expect that 7 or 8 of that team to be staples on the Galway panel in years to come.

Lot to be said for the influence of Mulholland as well. I think some of the underage sides in recent years have been let down on the sideline by some shoddy management teams. No coincidence that Mulholland has now picked up two All-Ireland medals with his set-up.

[neilthemac]

Was interesting today also that some of our best players on the day - Mark Hehir, Michael Boyle, Aonghus Tierney & Joss Moore didn't play minor for Galway (certainly as far as I'm aware none of the 4 played minor c'ship for Galway anyway).
Just goes to show that lads develop differently and not playing county minor shouldn't rule anyone out when it comes to the 21s.

True. You would wonder how someone like Hehir or Boyle never played minor but I guess it's possible that lads can develop at different ages as well.

That's Galway's 3rd U-21 All-Ireland in the past decade which is pretty good going. In fact it's more than anyone else has managed including Cork. The county is still producing plenty of young talent but it hasn't quite come together at senior level. Hopefully some of these lads and maybe Alan Mulholland can change that in the next few years. Overall I think this is a much better balanced team than the side that won the 2005 final. That side was very reliant on Meehan and Armstrong to produce magic (which they did in fairness). This year's team doesn't really have any big stars but they are strong in every line of the field and won the All-Ireland without arguably their best forward in Peadar O'Griofa (granted he's only out of minor). You would nearly expect that 7 or 8 of that team to be staples on the Galway panel in years to come.

Lot to be said for the influence of Mulholland as well. I think some of the underage sides in recent years have been let down on the sideline by some shoddy management teams. No coincidence that Mulholland has now picked up two All-Ireland medals with his set-up.

what does he bring as manager?

[ross matt]

Congratulation Galway. Beat a highly rated Cork side and pretty much hammered everyone else. Worthy champions. 3 U-21 & 1 Minor AI titles inside the last decade. The same level of success has'nt manifested itself at senior but it shows when the tribesmen build up momentum and get to the business end of campaigns they generally have the nerve and class to rise to the occasion. Mulholland is well positioned now as a future senior bainisteor. Hard luck to Cavan. At least they've a a hard won provincial title and an AI final appearance that they can build on.

[johnpower]

Congrats to Galway . This team seems to have some fine players with the future looking very bright

[seafoid]

Congratulation Galway. Beat a highly rated Cork side and pretty much hammered everyone else. Worthy champions. 3 U-21 & 1 Minor AI titles inside the last decade. The same level of success has'nt manifested itself at senior but it shows when the tribesmen build up momentum and get to the business end of campaigns they generally have the nerve and class to rise to the occasion. Mulholland is well positioned now as a future senior bainisteor. Hard luck to Cavan. At least they've a a hard won provincial title and an AI final appearance that they can build on.

Hard luck to Cavan. It's not a nice feeling to get so far and leave Croke Park empty handed especially when the team is well beaten and it's obvious in the first half. God knows Galway fans know that feeling (but not as much as Mayo, obviously).
On the positive side for Cavan the run will encourage lots of young players, the game in the county got attention it hasn't for a while and losing an u-2 can often be the springboard to sucess at senior. Some of the greatest u-21 teams never made any headway in senior. Limerick hurlers would be the stand outs.

From the Galway perspective it's a great win and hopefully we can build on it.  Galway fuballers have the clinical touch that the hurlers need.