U21 footballers to listen out for in 2010

Conor Lynam (Westmeath)
Ace marksman for Westmeath, maybe even the heir to Dessie Dolan. Roasted young Andrews of Dublin in Croke Park last year. If Westmeath do anything this year, then he'll be at the heart of it.

David Givney (Cavan)
6ft 4" or so giant. Cavan midfield woes are at an end with the arrival of Givney if you ask me. Capable of taking a score too but its his imposing figure round the middle of the field that will benefit Cavan most.

Graham Reilly (Meath)
Attacking wing-back, maybe even a half-forward but either way very stylish footballer. Very surprising he didn't make EOB's panel last year but different story this year. Could be the next superstar to come from the small parish of Laytown who gave us O'Malley and Flynn.

Paddy O'Rourke (Meath)
Nephew of Colm. And another giant, must be all of 6ft 6". Growing in confidence all the time, his kickouts are literally huge - bypasses midfield every time. Performances in the League prove he's far more comfortable under a high ball this season.

Any others? Don't want to read about minors or lads just out of minor, what 21 year-olds are we to expect to be something real good this year?

Lynam's clubmate Paul Sharry has improved some amount over the last 2 years. A lot stronger and faster than he used to be, probably as a result of training with Shamrock Rovers, ironically. Very similar to Glennon. They could complement each other well with the seniors.

Louth must have a few handy Under 21s as well I assume after yesterday's result?

donie shine is a class act aswell.givney playing good football these days,has alot of room for improvement,hopefully he'll be the next dermot mccabe

Aidan O'Shea is the obvious one but Alan and Cathal Freeman should both be names to look out for in the Mayo u21 team

Brian Menton of Meath. He was minor last year and is a very good young footballer.

One for the future is Barry Reilly from cavan he opted out of the panel this year tho...

scoopmine wrote:One for the future is Barry Reilly from cavan he opted out of the panel this year tho...

serious player,if nixon has any sense barry will be planning his trip out to austrailia after the trials tonight.

Watch out for Ross Clarke (full forward and younger brother of Ronan)

Anto Duffy (midfielder for county champions Pearse Ogs) very athletic and the makings of a top player.

Big hope is Jamie Clarke from Crossmaglen, a high scoring half forward.

Best hopes for Monaghan at this level would be Dermot Malone, Colm Greenan(will be county full-back in near future) and Kieran Hughes, brother of Darren, he's at these trails in Gormanstown today unfortunately!

Aaron McCarey would have been a star but he's now minding goals for Wolves reserves.

Dougal wrote:
serious player,if nixon has any sense barry will be planning his trip out to austrailia after the trials tonight.

Agreed. As the post put it "People around Kingscourt have been speaking about this young man in hushed tones for a few years now" A huge promise for a young player.

Some of these lads are already on the Tyrone senior panel and most may know but watch out for Mickey's nephew Pete Harte, The McGuigan's clubmate Kyle Coney, Ricey's clubmate Ronan McNabb, Eugene McKenna's son Niall and there's a young lad from my own club who i hope can make the grade Daniel MacDiarmada.

Sebastian wrote:Lynam's clubmate Paul Sharry has improved some amount over the last 2 years. A lot stronger and faster than he used to be, probably as a result of training with Shamrock Rovers, ironically. Very similar to Glennon. They could complement each other well with the seniors.

Louth must have a few handy Under 21s as well I assume after yesterday's result?

Not sure about Louth but we play Westmeath on Sunday in Cusack Park.

Meath have a lot of injuries. Andy Collins, Joey Martin, John Broderick, Daire Smyth and Paddy Gilsenan are all out.

Still Meath side isn't too bad:
Paddy O'Rourke
Ciaran Lenehan Sean Curran Gerry Sheridan
Tommy Johnson Byran Menton Kevin McCann
Craig Berrigan Conor Gillespie
Alan Douglas Mark Collins Graham Reilly
Damian Carroll Brian Sheridan Sean Dalton

By my reckoning, 7 of those lads are underage next year.

I presume Sharry and Lynam are Westmeath's two main players?

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:

Sebastian wrote:Lynam's clubmate Paul Sharry has improved some amount over the last 2 years. A lot stronger and faster than he used to be, probably as a result of training with Shamrock Rovers, ironically. Very similar to Glennon. They could complement each other well with the seniors.

Louth must have a few handy Under 21s as well I assume after yesterday's result?

Not sure about Louth but we play Westmeath on Sunday in Cusack Park.

Meath have a lot of injuries. Andy Collins, Joey Martin, John Broderick, Daire Smyth and Paddy Gilsenan are all out.

Still Meath side isn't too bad:
Paddy O'Rourke
Ciaran Lenehan Sean Curran Gerry Sheridan
Tommy Johnson Byran Menton Kevin McCann
Craig Berrigan Conor Gillespie
Alan Douglas Mark Collins Graham Reilly
Damian Carroll Brian Sheridan Sean Dalton

By my reckoning, 7 of those lads are underage next year.

I presume Sharry and Lynam are Westmeath's two main players?

Sharry wasn't even playing against Kildare, which I found very surprising. John Heslin, like the other two is also a Loman's man who played for the CBS in Mullingar is very highy regarded and still has 3 years left at Under 21 and will be a class act. Along with Denny Coroon, they make up a strong midfield. Durkan and McDaniels were in and out of the senior panel since 06 and are very handy players. I'm not fully sure on the strength of the defence, Kieran Martin is a very good centre back, they conceded on 6 points the last day out which would suggest they're decent.

Yeah I wouldn't say the Meath forwards are outstanding either. Alan Douglas and Sean Dalton are both late developers so I don't know a whole lot about them. We'll be depending on Brian Sheridan for a lot of scores. Mark Collins at centre-forward is very good too, he can really stroke the ball about like any of the good centre-forwards. Very clever player.

Meath's two mid-fielders are two giants as is Bryan Menton so it should be a good contest round the middle.

Surprised with our full-back line. Missing Andy Collins and Joey Martin so its a weakened line. Half-backs, Tommy Johnson just got the nod I'd say whilst McCann from Duleek is another I don't know a whole lot about. As for Menton, he's a huge prospect. His club have dominated under age in Meath for the last five years and I'd say Menton is the best player they've produced in that time.

I was looking forward to this game too but can't make it now. Hopefully Meath win, good players there and the two greatest Meath players running the show, O'Rourke and Giles. Be great if we could win Leinster with this group of players.

I have to say,the Mayo U21 team is looking seriously strong this year. Some particular players to look out for would be the usuals in Aidan O'Shea and Kevin McLoughlin but also the likes of Neill Douglas,Alan Freeman,Shane Nally and Kevin Keane.

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:
As for Menton, he's a huge prospect. His club have dominated under age in Meath for the last five years and I'd say Menton is the best player they've produced in that time.

And long may it continue Loyal

AdamG wrote:I have to say,the Mayo U21 team is looking seriously strong this year. Some particular players to look out for would be the usuals in Aidan O'Shea and Kevin McLoughlin but also the likes of Neill Douglas,Alan Freeman,Shane Nally and Kevin Keane.

AdamG should be interesting if you guys were to meet Tyrone - we will have the majority of the winning 08 minor team on board for the season and we have also had the sense to get Ryan Porter (one of the best trainers about) involved in the u21 setup

AnMhí7 wrote:

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:
As for Menton, he's a huge prospect. His club have dominated under age in Meath for the last five years and I'd say Menton is the best player they've produced in that time.

And long may it continue Loyal

Yeah, ye haven't been too forthcoming in providing Meath with these players though. I could name a dozen players who have just disappeared off the map, Rory O'Connor (Meath minor captain 2005 I think), Eoin Reilly, David Morgan are all 22 or older, how come these lads have all struggled to make an impact at senior intercounty level? Colm O'Mealoid was Meath U21 captain in 2007, he's rising 24 now, where is he? John Broderick is a permeneant injury, he should be starting on Saturday but he's injured again. Stephen Dervan, Eric Callaghan, Iarlaith O'Donnell all started for Meath at u16 level, I see they are playing with the Ashbourne second team now. Andrew Tormey and Ciaran Ellis are only subs on this u21 team, these guys were hailed as the next big things in Meath 2-3 years ago. Especially Tormey.

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:

AnMhí7 wrote:

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:
As for Menton, he's a huge prospect. His club have dominated under age in Meath for the last five years and I'd say Menton is the best player they've produced in that time.

And long may it continue Loyal

Yeah, ye haven't been too forthcoming in providing Meath with these players though. I could name a dozen players who have just disappeared off the map, Rory O'Connor (Meath minor captain 2005 I think), Eoin Reilly, David Morgan are all 22 or older, how come these lads have all struggled to make an impact at senior intercounty level? Colm O'Mealoid was Meath U21 captain in 2007, he's rising 24 now, where is he? John Broderick is a permeneant injury, he should be starting on Saturday but he's injured again. Stephen Dervan, Eric Callaghan, Iarlaith O'Donnell all started for Meath at u16 level, I see they are playing with the Ashbourne second team now. Andrew Tormey and Ciaran Ellis are only subs on this u21 team, these guys were hailed as the next big things in Meath 2-3 years ago. Especially Tormey.

Dave Morgan is 20 and Eoin Reilly is 21 I think? Rory is currently doing great for us in the middle of the pitch but I just don't think he has the pace for senior intercounty. John Broderick has always had injury problems, and Andrew Tormey is just recovering from injury as far as I know. And he is only 19. Eric Callaghan is on our senior team and I'm not sure what's happening with Dervan and O'Donnell. These lads all had a alot of underage success. Some players don't always grow into the footballers they can be. Our minor team this year isn't as good as it has been but there are some very good footballers on the u16/u15 teams.

Tómas (Mossy) Beirne will be the revelation of the summer. While from a junior club (Eslin) this 6'2".. 20 year old was started at full forward in both our Senior debacles last year. He's a natural midfielder, able to take a score and will be a force in 2010 should the Muppet twins amalgamate "their combined brains" and start him there.
On the other hand, given their attitude, he may not get a game at all.

This is the sort of joined-up thinking your county can get for €80k per annum, should any of your managers depart in a rush.

Boxtyeater wrote:This is the sort of joined-up thinking your county can get for €80k per annum, should any of your managers depart in a rush.

You want to order a hit? Pillar has previous ....

I thought David Morgan was older. If he's still under-age for this year's u21 team, then its another question mark beside his name. Eoin Reilly will be 22 this year, to be fair, I'd still have a few ideas that he may turn out to be very good. I think Tormey must have regressed a bit, otherwise he'd be starting on Saturday, same comments for Ellis. All these were class players a few years ago and not one of them can make it onto Meath senior panel. Makes me wonder. Still I suspect Menton will be there in a few years for sure.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:
You want to order a hit? Pillar has previous ....

No need..some locals (cousins of the Gambino family) are formulating an offer .....

Boxtyeater wrote:

Jayo Cluxton wrote:
You want to order a hit? Pillar has previous ....

No need..some locals (cousins of the Gambino family) are formulating an offer .....

Aye - good lads. I think they are doing a two for one offer for Lent too ...

Barry John Walsh Kerry
Barry John Keane Kerry
Donie Kingston Laois