Dubs U20s aim to make winning start to a big weekend for county
By Daire Walsh
THE Dublin Under 20 footballers will aim to make it a perfect start for the county at Croke Park on Saturday when they face Galway in their All-Ireland championship decider (throw-in 2.15pm).
With the Dublin senior men and ladies taking centre stage for the Capital in their respective All-Ireland showpieces later in the weekend, the Under 20s will be hoping to have the Blues faithful cheering early on.
A campaign that began for Tom Gray’s Sky Blues outfit back on February 8 will finally reach a conclusion at GAA HQ as part of a double-header with the senior showdown between Dublin and Mayo.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the All-Ireland semi-final in this competition was delayed until mid-October and even after the Metropolitans overcame Ulster champions Tyrone in the last-four, their showpiece meeting against Tribesmen was put back.
This was owing to the fact the country was in Level Five of the Irish Government’s ‘Plan for Living with COVID-19’. Now that it has moved back to Level Three, both teams are afforded the day in the sun that they so badly craved.
Heading up the local interest on this Dublin side will be Templeogue Synge Street’s Lorcan O’Dell. Despite the presence of Ciaran Archer and gifted dual performer Luke Swan, he has arguably been Dublin’s standout attacker thus far.
Courtesy of a 2-5 haul spread across four games, O’Dell was named the top player in Leinster in the EirGrid GAA U20 Player of the Province awards. He followed this up with a two-point tally in their 1-14 to 1-12 win over Tyrone at Kingspan Breffni on October 17.
He will seek to make it a perfect Saturday at Jones’ Road for TSS, with his club-mate Niall Scully set to feature in the senior final later in the same day. O’Dell is expected to line out in a half-forward line that also includes Lucan Sarsfields’ Mark Lavin.
He was in superb form the last day out, registering three points to help his county past the stern challenge of the Red Hand. His Lucan compatriot Alan Murphy has played a significant role throughout this campaign as has Thomas Davis’ Adam Waddick.
He was named at centre half-back against Tyrone and will need to be on his toes against a Galway side that impressively defeated Kerry on a final scoreline of 1-15 to 1-10 in the penultimate phase.
Matthew Tierney’s dead-ball accuracy ensures the Dublin rearguard can ill-afford to give away any cheap frees, while the likes of Cian Monahan and Matthew Cooley are others to watch out for in the Connacht side’s ranks.