Leinster U20 football championship 2024

[Gael85]

Well done to Offaly.  Way better team. Dublin probably should lost to Meath as they had lots wides. Offaly 13 and 14 were class.

[MayoBuck]

This fella with the mullet is pacey

He gave a great interview for a 20 year old. Well done Offaly.

[laoislad]

Great game of football. Well done to Offaly.

[Muck Savage]

This fella with the mullet is pacey

He gave a great interview for a 20 year old. Well done Offaly.

Only 18, was on the 2020 minor team that got beat a few weeks ago in the final by Meath. Also played in the 2020 Leinster Minor hurling final a few weeks ago.

[SHEEDY]

Great match, well done offaly.

[yellowcard]

Great performance and result for Offaly. They were much the better side and looked like a very well coached outfit where everyone knew their role. Dublin for a county with superior resources on the other hand looked very ragged and disorganised. The Offaly barrel chested corner forward with the mullet produced some second half display, at times it felt like he was taking on the entire Dublin defence single handedly. Offaly were dogged in defence but once they turned over possession they were able to break at serious pace. The Offaly no 11 almost scored what would have been goal of the season in the first half only for a lack of composure at the finish.

Great to see this U20 competition getting exposure, it shows what can be done when a competition is properly promoted and TG4 do a great job.

[Rudi]

Something about Offaly, have to admire them, can always win big games. About 12 points the better team, Dublin were awful in the second half. Egan is a fantastic footballer.

[Walter Cronc]

Brilliant watch. I was very impressed with Offaly's conditioning. 5, 9, 11 and 13 all very athletic and they all had a habit of changing direction/breaking the tackle just before a hand came in - kudos to the coaches there!

You can definitely see Dublin returning into the pack over the next few years. Barring their number 10 no one really stood out.

[yellowcard]

Dublin were physically bullied after the first quarter which was epitomised by the Dublin no.11 who started the game like a house on fire but faded badly after getting some close attention from his Offaly marker after the first water break. He was rattled after that and so were a lot of the Dublin team, they just couldn't match the intensity of the Offaly tackling and closing down space. The longer the match wore on the more Offaly upped their tackle rate, they were seriously well conditioned.

You have to give great to the Offaly coaching set up but they had some great individual performances as well.
I agree on an upcoming Dublin dip, they are not dominating at underage level and I think they will fall back in the next 5 or so years. They'll still be competitive but definitely won't be a shoe in for AI titles, just one of 3/4 teams capable of winning it.

[Bord na Mona man]

A couple of remarkable things about the game. Dublin scored their last point in the 12th minute. They got one score in the entire second half.

Like the games against Westmeath and Wexford, Offaly should have romped home but somehow didn't. However the team showed massive courage in making sure they didn't lose it either.

The fearlessness of the players was superb to watch. Continually driving forward with the ball, showing courage. Too many teams get possession and spend the day running back towards their own goal as that sense of adventure has been coached out of players. Dublin found it difficult to deal with the direct runners and regularly missed tackles or fouled.

In recent years Offaly have been quietly and gradually getting the house in order at underage and it's brilliant to see it starting to pay off.

[manfromdelmonte]

Ironic that the person who is responsible for a lot of this improvement in S&C in Offaly is a Dub.
Recently returned to Dublin as a GPO however

[TheGreatest]

Well done Offaly, great for Leinster, hope they go all the way and gradually mend into the senior panel, would love to see Egan light up Croker for years to come.

[fearsiuil]

Ironic that the person who is responsible for a lot of this improvement in S&C in Offaly is a Dub.
Recently returned to Dublin as a GPO however

Who is that?

[seafoid]

Great result . Great to see Offaly footballers winning .

[Hound]

Well done to Offaly. Especially when they were so much the better team throughout yet couldn't kill off the 'big team', but they never waivered. Maybe the earlier games BnM mentioned stood to them in that regard.

Ironic that the person who is responsible for a lot of this improvement in S&C in Offaly is a Dub.
Recently returned to Dublin as a GPO however

Who is that?

Exactly, and was he really in charge of the Offaly U20 S&C? And any other teams?

And what Dublin club is he going to?

I'd be very surprised if he was going in as a standard GPO/GDO (ie half your time is spent taking PE classes for primary school boys and girls and the other half dealing with the young kids at the club).

2 or 3 of the big Dublin clubs hire an additional GPO, pay them more than the normal GPO. All funds come from the club membership or sponsors. Badging these guys as GPOs gets then around the ban on paid coaches. They are few and far between, Kilmacud have a well known one like this (who's name escapes me!).