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

[Kerry Mike]

Very disapointing game for the neutral, as soon as Galway took control in Midfield they just pulled away and Cavan never looked like they could get it back, the 2 goals chances after half time would have given them a lifeline but neither were taken including the peno, dont know what the ploy of starting the No 2 in midfield for Cavan was but the poor lad was taken off and Cavan were very slow to make changes there as well as the Cavan Goalie kept on Booting it out to the middle instead of tryiing a few shorter ones or out the wings to gain poscession, the 2 lanky midfielders caught some amount of ball for Galway and with the supply of ball coming in Galway took their scores well and were deserving winners, Well Done the tribesmen.

[Main Street]

Very fluid display from Galway with a superb few minutes which knocked the stuffing out of Cavan early on.
They would have won the crossbar challenge as well.
Tough on Cavan to get hammered like that in an AI final but that Galway team were in another class.

[Fr Todd Unctious]

Excellent win for Galway today, looked very classy at times. The likes of Hehir, Boyle, O'Curraoin, Flynn should be brought into the Senior panel now, not next year or the year after. They're all on top of their game at the moment, if Cork, Kerry or Tyrone had these type of players you can be sure they'd be promoted to the senior panel already. Would also give a shoe in the arse to the same oul stale players that appear year after year for Galway. At 19, 20, 21 should be well able for Senior football.

[myball22]

Another happy Galway man today. It was a really good win, every player played their part but I thought some of the point taking from Hehir and Cummins was exceptional and the midfielders had 2 savage games. I really hope we can bring them through to senior level as soon as possible, the defence was really tight, they conceded the only goal in the whole campaign at the very end with the final match and it was already won but they still weren't happy with themselves.
The penalty was really soft and you have to wonder about referrees making decisions giving penalties from 20 or 30 yards away from the play. That said, I think Cavan had a better case for a penalty later on but the ref is never going to give a second penalty.

Fair play to the Cavan team who were sporting throughout, many teams who are losing by a lot lose the heads and start doing dirty things as was seen in the second game today but Cavan players played the game until the end and never gave up and showed their class. Also a word to the supporters who came in their thousands and showed real grace and sportsmanship to applaud the Galway team on their lap of honour. Also well done to captain Colin Forde who spoke very well, led throughout and brought the cup over to some young fan for pictures after the game during the lap of honour, another class act and hopefully you will lift another cup for Galway in Croke Park some day.

It's nice to see Galway football on the up, hopefully we will see this momentum brought into the seniors. Finally I would say that Alan Mulholland will be the next Galway manager if he wants it. He has had All-Ireland success at minor and now u21 level. He seems to be a good man manager, also he seems to pick players from anywhere, he has a good knowledge of the game at under-age level and hopefully he can make a team out of some of the good young players we have. Of course if O'Flaratha can do that sooner, all the better

[An Fhairche Abu]

That said, I think Cavan had a better case for a penalty later on but the ref is never going to give a second penalty.

This is absolutely true, I think that a big problem in the way that the games are reffed is that previous decisions are influencing the calls on other incidents, there is no consistency at all.

[mylestheslasher]

Very disapointing game for the neutral, as soon as Galway took control in Midfield they just pulled away and Cavan never looked like they could get it back, the 2 goals chances after half time would have given them a lifeline but neither were taken including the peno, dont know what the ploy of starting the No 2 in midfield for Cavan was but the poor lad was taken off and Cavan were very slow to make changes there as well as the Cavan Goalie kept on Booting it out to the middle instead of tryiing a few shorter ones or out the wings to gain poscession, the 2 lanky midfielders caught some amount of ball for Galway and with the supply of ball coming in Galway took their scores well and were deserving winners, Well Done the tribesmen.

Leddy no 2 has been named corner back in every game of the championship and always ends up in the middle to spoil the oppositions top man. He was outplayed yesterday but it was a winning tactic until then. Agreed we should have had a 2nd plan for kick outs but the best team on the day won and I don't think that would have changed no matter what tactics Cavan used. But I take heart from a great campaign and we remember Down losing a U21 final and a few yeats later being in a senior final so 1 lose does not make this team a poor one over night.

[mckieran]

Some really good players on that Galway side. But to be advocating them to be immediately put into the senior team is a bit premature I think. Some guys have huge potential; Hehir, Boyle etc. However, it is way too soon for them to be in the senior panel. They should have another year or two playing senior with their clubs before that. Look at Cummins, He has been excellent for the U-21's. But he has looked way out of his depth at senior level. Patience is needed with these lads if they are to fulfil their potential.

[GalwayBayBoy]

De Indo's take on the final

Galway 2-16
Cavan 1-9

All-Ireland U-21 FC Final

By Cliona Foley

Monday May 02 2011

'Waity Katie,' as the tabloids used to dub her, may have finally got her prince, but there was no fairytale ending for Cavan's footballers yesterday.

The Breffni lads' brave journey to the county's first final in Croke Park in 59 years ended in tears when they were torn asunder by a team of youngsters who proved that reports of Galway football's demise are greatly exaggerated.

Thousands of Cavan fans ( 12,000 approx) collected around Jones's Road from early morning, buzzing with their dream of a first All-Ireland victory since the legendary senior team of '52.

But the chance of a perfect ending was snuffed out by a much more composed Galway outfit, who racked up an 11-point half-time lead.

Cavan's heavy mauling immediately prompted fears for their future psyche, but manager Terry Hyland insisted the county will still benefit and build on this year's progress.

"While we'll go home disappointed, we are still our own provincial champions, which is a fair achievement for Cavan and hadn't happened since 1996," he said. "We got to an Ulster final also last year and, hopefully, we can put out a bunch of fellas next year who can compete again."

Had nerves played a big part?

"Perhaps they got to our boys a little bit," he admitted.

"We seemed to fumble a lot of ball that we normally wouldn't, while everything Galway did turned to gold for them. Anywhere they kicked from it went across the bar, and we dropped a few short, but Galway were the better side on the day."

Hyland's reference to dropping a few short undoubtedly referred to a crucial period, 10 minutes in, when the sides were level on 0-3 apiece and Cavan then wasted four consecutive chances.

They kicked one wide and dropped three more scoreable chances short to the goalkeeper in quick succession, one of them a 25-metre free.

Galway responded with a scoring blitz of 2-7 unanswered in 17 minutes, though they were lucky with Patrick Sweeney's opening goal which drew two great saves from Alan O'Mara and hit the woodwork twice before he was eventually beaten.

Galway's senior stock may have fallen lower than Irish bank shares these days but a third All-Ireland U-21 title in 10 years (2002 and 2005), their fourth in total, indicated that it can rise again. And delighted manager Alan Mulholland believes many of his winning side are ready now to make the jump to senior.

"The state of Galway football has been over-exaggerated," he said. "We knew we had a good group of lads here and I know Tomas (O Flatharta, senior manager) has his eye on a good few of them. In my opinion, a good lot of them are ready to move on at this stage."

Impressive full-back and captain Colin Forde is already a senior panellist and his decision to play with the big first-half wind paid huge dividends as the young Tribesmen changed ends with a 2-10 to 0-5 lead.

And when their goalkeeper Manus Breathnach saved a penalty from Barry Reilly within five minutes of the restart it was looking like a foregone conclusion.

A handful of yesterday's victors won a minor title at Croke Park in 2007 when Mulholland was also in charge.

Yet, surprisingly, brilliant centre-forward Mark Hehir wasn't one of them.

He never played minor for the county yet picked up his second U-21 Man of the match award yesterday, displaying a style and vision eerily reminiscent of a young Padraig Joyce, orchestrating everything like a virtuoso conductor while also chipping in with 0-7 (0-2f).

He wasn't their only star.

Speedy corner-forward Danny Cummins burned off two markers in turn, wing-back Joss Moore got two early points, central defenders Forde and Jonathan Duane were simply unflappable and two of last year's minors -- Fionntain O Curraoin and Thomas Flynn -- proved exactly why they are already being marked out as future county senior midfielders, with O Curraoin particularly outstanding yesterday.

Cavan started corner-back Mark Leddy at midfield to mark Flynn and sited Gearoid McKiernan (their only player with any previous Croke Park experience, with his club Swanlinbar) at wing-back, but it quickly became clear that their defence had no match for Galway's power and pace.

Niall Smith, who, like Niall McDermott, battled heroically throughout, got Cavan off to a great start, scoring after just 20 seconds and points from Barry Reilly and Fergal Flanagan kept them level.

But then their midfield and defence was over-run and anytime their forwards got a chance they went goal-chasing, instead of taking some settling points.

Immediately after the restart, with the wind at their backs, they had genuine goal chances, not least a bouncing ball which Jack Brady should have punched over the goalkeeper, but opted to control.

Substitute Conor McLarney, with literally his first touch, got a consolation goal, laid on by Niall McDermott, in the dying minutes and Turloc Mooney and Kevin Tierney also did well off the bench, but Galway were already home and hosed.

Man of the Match: Mark Hehir (Galway)

Scorers -- Galway: M Hehir 0-7 (4f), D Cummins 0-4, P Sweeney, E Monahan 1-0 each, M Boyle (1f), J Moore 0-2 each, C Doherty 0-1. Cavan: C McClarey 1-0, B Reilly (1f), N McDermott 0-2 each, F Flanagan, N Murray, N Smith, J Brady (f), K Tierney 0-1 each.

Galway -- M Breathnach 8; G Sweeney 9, C Forde 9, A Tierney 8; J Moore 8, J Duane 8, T Fahy 7; T Flynn 7, F O Curraoin 9; C Doherty 7, M Hehir 9, B Boyle 8; D Cummins 9, P Sweeney 7, E Monahan 7. Subs: A Murphy 7 for Sweeney (32), M Farragher 8 for Monahan (47), B Flaherty for Boyle (56), C Halloran for Fahy (59), C Silke for Tierney (59).

Cavan -- A O'Mara 8; D Barkey 6, O Minagh 7, D Tighe 5; G McKiernan 6, K Meehan 5, M Brady 7; M Leddy 5, F Flanagan 6; N Smith 8, N Murray 6, B Reilly 7; J Brady 5, N McDermott 7, P Leddy 5. Subs: P King 5 for Leddy (21), T Mooney 7 for Tighe (31). K Tierney 7 for Reilly (40), N McKiernan 6 for King (51), C McClarey for Meehan (58).

[BallyhaiseMan]

Gearoid McKiernan went to wing half back??? 
Really,is that hard for journalists not to know the differences between players playing in an All-Ireland under 21 final?.
It was Fergal Flanagan,that went to wing back and later to cornerback to mark Cummins.

[lynchbhoy]

only saw bits of the game and while Galways were good, how many red heads were on the Cavan squad?
Theres def more Breffni roosters than aywhere else in the country judging by the amount of gingers on show last Sunday !
I couldnt believe it!

[mylestheslasher]

Gearoid McKiernan went to wing half back??? 
Really,is that hard for journalists not to know the differences between players playing in an All-Ireland under 21 final?.
It was Fergal Flanagan,that went to wing back and later to cornerback to mark Cummins.

Didn't Barry Reilly score that lovely point at the start of the 1st half too, they have it down as being a free!

Lazy journalism but when it comes to underage and smaller counties thats what we get in many of the papers.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Galway, feckin typical. Win the All-Ireland in 2005, don't win a championship game for the next five years and then go and win the feckin thing in 2011. In the interim we win four Connacht titles and only one All-Ireland, and with our best two panels (2010 and 2011) lose to Roscommon twice. They were very bad in the league - Galway - but watch the hoors in championship in Castlebar on June 20. Ya couldn't watch them.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Galway, feckin typical. Win the All-Ireland in 2005, don't win a championship game for the next five years and then go and win the feckin thing in 2011. In the interim we win four Connacht titles and only one All-Ireland, and with our best two panels (2010 and 2011) lose to Roscommon twice. They were very bad in the league - Galway - but watch the hoors in championship in Castlebar on June 20. Ya couldn't watch them.

It's like something we'd do alright. Pure useless for years and then go and win the whole thing out of the blue. And in some style.

Hopefully we're not waiting years to win a game again at this level. Think half the squad are back again next year and some like the two lads in midfield are still U-21 for another 2 years yet. Don't think it'll have much bearing on the senior team this year but at least the signs look better a little bit down the road now than they did a few months ago.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Galway, feckin typical. Win the All-Ireland in 2005, don't win a championship game for the next five years and then go and win the feckin thing in 2011. In the interim we win four Connacht titles and only one All-Ireland, and with our best two panels (2010 and 2011) lose to Roscommon twice. They were very bad in the league - Galway - but watch the hoors in championship in Castlebar on June 20. Ya couldn't watch them.

It's like something we'd do alright. Pure useless for years and then go and win the whole thing out of the blue. And in some style.

Hopefully we're not waiting years to win a game again at this level. Think half the squad are back again next year and some like the two lads in midfield are still U-21 for another 2 years yet. Don't think it'll have much bearing on the senior team this year but at least the signs look better a little bit down the road now than they did a few months ago.

Surely a good crowd of them will be brought into the seniors now? How many seniors had ye yesterday? Forde, Cummins, Fahy? Doherty? It would be something else if ye were flying at senior, ergo wouldn't need them as much. But given yer midfield problems, surely Flynn is worth a look? Hehir looks the business too but might be a bit light yet. Hard to know.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Galway, feckin typical. Win the All-Ireland in 2005, don't win a championship game for the next five years and then go and win the feckin thing in 2011. In the interim we win four Connacht titles and only one All-Ireland, and with our best two panels (2010 and 2011) lose to Roscommon twice. They were very bad in the league - Galway - but watch the hoors in championship in Castlebar on June 20. Ya couldn't watch them.

It's like something we'd do alright. Pure useless for years and then go and win the whole thing out of the blue. And in some style.

Hopefully we're not waiting years to win a game again at this level. Think half the squad are back again next year and some like the two lads in midfield are still U-21 for another 2 years yet. Don't think it'll have much bearing on the senior team this year but at least the signs look better a little bit down the road now than they did a few months ago.

Surely a good crowd of them will be brought into the seniors now? How many seniors had ye yesterday? Forde, Cummins, Fahy? Doherty? It would be something else if ye were flying at senior, ergo wouldn't need them as much. But given yer midfield problems, surely Flynn is worth a look? Hehir looks the business too but might be a bit light yet. Hard to know.

Forde and Duane played towards the latter half of the league. Forde looks like he's the de facto first choice full-back for the seniors now. Cummins has played a little off the bench. Don't think Doherty has played with the seniors. The two lads in midfield are mighty prospects alright but still awfully raw and were only minors last year. I know Aidan Walsh has made a big impact with Cork and he's only 2 years older than them but I think he's had a lot more physical development work done than our lads. That said they didn't look in any way out of place going up against him.

Hehir looks a very classy player alright. A real centre-forward who sprays the ball about and can obviously take his scores as well. Physically he might need more time though.