ARCHER’S BEEN HITTING TARGET FOR THE U-20s
LEINSTER U-20 FC REVIEW
Daire Walsh
FOLLOWING a ‘workmanlike’ performance in their semi-final triumph over Wexford last Tuesday evening, Dublin U-20 football supremo Tom Gray has quickly switched his focus to this Friday’s Leinster decider against Laois at O’Connor Park, Tullamore (throw-in 7.30pm).
The Sky Blues have eased their way through the province to date, overcoming the challenges of Longford and the Slaneysiders with a combined winning tally of 40 points.
However, they are expected to be put to the pin of their collar by the O’Moore County – impressive 1-13 to 0-7 victors over Meath in their semi-final clash.
“The performance on Tuesday was fairly workmanlike. We started well and didn’t really give Wexford any chance to challenge in the game.
OUTSTANDING
“It was job done overall but there’s plenty of areas to improve. Which we will need to do for the final, because Laois are an outstanding team. We need to be at our best to beat them,” Gray remarked.
Whilst 10 different players have worked their way onto the scoring charts thus far, Naomh Maur’s Ciaran Archer has acted as the fulcrum in the Dublin attack.
Following his eye-catching 2-8 haul in the Longford game, the full-forward subsequently amassed 1-8 in their commanding 1-17 to 0-6 success at home to Wexford.
Gray has been delighted with Archer’s consistency throughout 2019 and hopes it can propel them towards a Leinster crown – which would be their first at this revamped grade.
“Ciaran has been scoring freely all year. His free-taking has been very solid. We’re very happy with how Ciaran has been progressing. We very much hope that he can continue that rich vein of form into the final.”
Despite being hot favourites to prevail, the recent meeting of the same counties in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship shows that Dublin simply can’t take anything for granted in Tullamore.
They will also be seeking to make amends for last year’s final reversal to Kildare, who went on to claim national glory with a thrilling display against Mayo at Croke Park.
A sizeable wide count in the Wexford game ensures there is scope for improvement heading into Friday’s tussle, but they will nevertheless be aiming for another blistering start.
Having registered 1-8 without reply in the first-quarter of their championship opener with Longford, they proceeded to establish a 0-9 to 0-2 interval cushion in Donnycarney last Tuesday.
With Laois high on confidence as a consequence of defeating the Royals, Gray’s men will look to hit the ground running once again.