All Ireland u21 football championship 2015

[muppet]

http://www.sportsfile.com/id/077019/

Few faces in there I don't recognise.
Anyone wanna name them L to R

Team for the day

P McConnell, C Gormley, D O'Hanlon, M McGee, C Meenagh, G Devlin, P Jordan, P Donnelly, C McAnallen, R Mellon, B McGuigan. S O'Neill, E McGinley, K Hughes, E Mulligan.

Tracksuits wearers
S McNally, M Anderson, D Harte, M Hughes, P O'Farrel, P O'Neill, S Sweeney, G Wylie, O Devine, D Treacy

Some set of forward there for an U-21 team.

[tippabu]

An All-Ireland champion at 15, the Mayo nightmare of 2012 and concussion concerns

Colin O'Riordan captains Tipperary in next Saturday's All-Ireland U21 football final.

AFTER 77 YEARS the drought was ended but the young Tipperary architects could be forgiven for not absorbing the significance of it.
Tipperary's 2011 All-Ireland minor win was a seismic achievement. They launched a dramatic comeback that day to storm Dublin and collect only the county's second ever national crown at that level.
Colin O'Riordan was a few weeks shy of his 16th birthday and freely admits it was difficult to appreciate the magnitude of that September feat.
"I don't think I understood it much at the time. It was great to be coming in to a team that was winning. The games kept coming and we kept winning them. You can't really savour it as much, you are there to do a job.
"You are not looking for taps on the back, you are there to win a medal. You do enjoy it, you enjoy playing football but the real enjoyment is when you win the cup."

If 2011 represented a dizzying high, 2012 brought about a shattering low. Tipperary may have got their business done in Munster but their All-Ireland hopes were scuppered at the quarter-final stage by Mayo.
Recent months have been joyous as they journeyed to next Saturday's EirGrid All-Ireland U21 football decider but the memories of that Mayo loss remain sobering.
"Going up on the bus to the Dublin game (in the All-Ireland semi-final) Steven (O'Brien) was talking to me about the special group of lads we have," recalls O'Riordan.
"I told him I had a nightmare there last night and he started laughing at me. I was after dreaming about the Mayo match and he said just make sure it doesn't happen today.
"I honestly still do get nightmares about it and it's not just a cliche. You wake up and you think if only, if only, if only. But we have a chance to rectify that now and hopefully we can do it."

O'Riordan is captain and the heartbeat of the Tipperary U21 side but he feared he could be a bystander earlier this month for their Munster final date with Cork.
In late March, he was stretchered off after receiving a heavy tackle in a senior league game against Sligo. He endured an anxious wait after that concussion before receiving the green light to play in the U21 decider.
"It wasn't easy now. You had to pass all the protocols and it's usually a very slow process. All I wanted to do was to go out and play football but the doctors kept saying 'No you are not allowed. We can't let you out tonight.'
"The first day I passed it I drove down to the field and you let all your emotions out. It's a great feeling then but up to that there was serious doubts.

"You get knocks on the head and I am sure that's not the first concussion I suffered but it's the first one that's after being diagnosed. Concussion is becoming a big topic now all over Ireland with the rugby. There is massive protocols gone in there and it is only right.
"At the end of the day it is a brain injury and your health is your wealth. It's an old cliche but that's it. And you're no good if your brain is hurt and you go playing it's only going to make it ten times worse."

O'Riordan overcame that hurdle and is now on the brink of being part of another milestone for Tipperary football.
"At the start of the year if you tipped a Tipperay v Tyrone U21 final people would have laughed at you, people would have said you were mad. But we are there now and we always had the belief that this group was something special. This is another stepping stone in the pond and hopefully we can take this one."

[tippabu]

Colin O'Riordan: Doubt always starts to creep in




It is the 1% that gnaws away at Colin O'Riordan.

He's not sure he'll ever be rid of it, the crumb of self-doubt permanently lodged in the mindset of the Tipperary footballer.

During most games it is ignored, not an issue. But when the opposition is draped in green and gold, red and white or sky blue, it boils to the surface, kicking and screaming.

You'd imagine an All-Ireland minor medal won at the age of 15, three victories apiece over Cork and Kerry at minor level. and an All-Star nomination in his debut season at senior level would lend itself to a confident young footballer relatively free of self-doubt.

"You go out everyday in the Tipperary jersey and you are 99% sure you have a right chance of winning, but it is that 1% in the back of your mind telling you that the Corks and Dublins of the football world are meant to be better than you," says the Tipp U21 captain.

"It sticks in the back of your head that if something goes wrong in a game against one of the traditional forces that you could be in for an onslaught. You are thinking maybe they are better than us. The doubt starts to creep in that maybe you are not as good as you thought you were."

So, how strongly did that 1% play on the Tipperary midfielder when Peter Kelleher bagged two goals either side of half-time in the Munster final to move Cork 2-4 to 0-8 clear or when Dublin forged out an 0-8 to 0-3 advantage early in the second-half of their All-Ireland semi-final contest?

"There was doubt, of course. There is something different about this group, however. They don't believe in losing. They don't think we might lose. They always think win, win, win. That's not the usual attitude of a Tipperary footballer.

"My father played for Tipperary and although he never got over the line against either Cork or Kerry, he has taught me not to settle for moral victories. Is he telling me to enjoy this period of progression for Tipperary football? No. Dad's attitude is spot on and I suppose that is working against the 1% too.

"When you beat the Corks and the Dublins then, the belief becomes massive. The realisation you have beaten these lads brings you on no end."

The 19-year old believes the county's football revolution is a work in progress and outside respect can only be achieved by a breakthrough at senior level, not an All-Ireland U21 final win.

"We are contending with the likes of Cork, Dublin, and now Tyrone. People don't see that as the norm. Should people think we should be there the whole time? I don't think so. We have to make the breakthrough at senior before we get proper, proper recognition.

"We won the minor and here we are in the All-Ireland U21 final. Steps have to be taken before we can push on and get recognition. This is just another step that needs to be taken."

[tippabu]

Two pieces above from interviews with Colin O'Riordan, very good attitude and good head on young shoulders, hard to believe he is still under 21 next year. Stephen O'Brien who has been just as good this year is 10 days or so overage for 21s next year too, they should have hidden him under the bed for a couple of weeks!!

[give her dixie]

Datsun Donaghy with a video message for the Tyrone U21 team

https://vimeo.com/126304476

[Rois]

Haven't been to Parnell Park in years - assume best way is just down Collins Av?  Any advice on the best place to park on a Saturday evening?

[Canalman]

Haven't been to Parnell Park in years - assume best way is just down Collins Av?  Any advice on the best place to park on a Saturday evening?

Personally would park in or around St Vincents GAA club. Fairly longish road into the clubhouse with on street parking either side. Coming from the northside it is the first right after the Church. Coming from the city first left after the golf club entrance.

[Rois]

Thanks, that'll do the job nicely.

[blewuporstuffed]

http://www.sportsfile.com/id/077019/

Few faces in there I don't recognise.
Anyone wanna name them L to R

Team for the day

P McConnell, C Gormley, D O'Hanlon, M McGee, C Meenagh, G Devlin, P Jordan, P Donnelly, C McAnallen, R Mellon, B McGuigan. S O'Neill, E McGinley, K Hughes, E Mulligan.

Tracksuits wearers
S McNally, M Anderson, D Harte, M Hughes, P O'Farrel, P O'Neill, S Sweeney, G Wylie, O Devine, D Treacy

Some set of forward there for an U-21 team.

I make it 15 of that squad went on to win senior AI medals

[StGallsGAA]

16 surely?

[The Bearded One]

13 from the starting 15 plus Shane Sweeney & David Harte.
Ciaran Meenagh & Darren O'Hanlon were the 2 starters to miss out on senior glory.

When you look at those stats it really is amazing just how talented that group really were. I'm just glad I was around to enjoy all their glory days.

[Fuzzman]

Rois, if you're c coming early to the Beachcomer just park beside it or behind it.
Aye come down Collins ave to Howth Rd.
Loads of wee side streets to park on there for free. Safe to leave car overnight too as long as nothing visible.

[heffo]

Hope Tipp win Saturday

[muppet]

Haven't been to Parnell Park in years - assume best way is just down Collins Av?  Any advice on the best place to park on a Saturday evening?

Parking should be safe enough, but as Fuzzman said don't invite attention by leaving anything visible. I lived just north of there for 5 years and never had any hassle with the car or house (but it does happen obviously). If you are planning a quick getaway afterwards I wouldn't park on the Beachcomber side.

If traffic is busy on the way to the match, take the N32 towards Malahide, then the Malahide road into town. After the second roundabout take the first left onto Killester Avenue and park the car somewhere there, ideally facing the opposite direction.

If traffic is fine, as you said, Collins Avenue is the simplest and I would have no fear or parking on one of the side streets close to Kitty Kiernans pub. I used to go there and the had a decent Guinness (although the Beachcomber had better Guinness).

If you are in no rush away afterwards, and if you really want the car safe, you could leave it in the (supervised) car park at Harry Byrne's pub (have a quick pint or coke though), which is a 10 minutes walk towards town from the Beachcomber on the Howth Road. That would be 15-20 mins walk from Parnell Park. The other safe option is to leave it in the shopping centre to the right of the Beachcomber. But both of those would be slow in getting to the M1 after the game.

[Rois]

Thanks Fuzz/Muppet - I'm the driver and my passenger is all for waiting it out until the traffic dies down (i.e. pint afterwards) so being slow to get to the M1 will be fine.