Fintan O’Toole
THE day ended with a sea of green and red invading the Cusack Park pitch. Mayo supporters engaged in riotous celebrations in Ennis on that warm May Sunday in 2006, toasting a notable All-Ireland U21 football triumph after a 21-year spell without a national football crown.
For that bunch of Cork U21 footballers the 1-13 to 1-11 was a painful experience yet also an instructive one. They had produced sparkling football against Mayo but lost out at the finish. 12 months later ten of that team were on board as Cork produced sub-standard football against Laois but won out at the finish. The lessons of the 2006 defeat steeled them for the battle in the 2007 victory.
On Sunday in Croke Park, Cork and Mayo square off for the first time since that 2006 U21 final in an inter-county football championship fixture at any level. Five years have passed yet the links between the two games are undeniable. Both counties have reaped a handsome dividend from those U21 setups, with a remarkable number of those players now part of the senior plans of Conor Counihan and James Horan tomorrow.
From that Cork U21 team, goalkeeper Ken O’Halloran is now first-choice back-up to senior netminder Alan Quirke, corner-back Ray Carey is part of the senior defensive reinforcements, while Michael Shields and Eoin Cadogan, who both lined out then in the half-back line, are now part of the inside senior rearguard.
That Cork midfield pairing of Alan O’Connor and Patrick Kelly have subsequently flourished with O’Connor a mainstay around the middle while Kelly has is a key figure at centre-forward. From the attack, Fintan Goold and Paul Kerrigan will both start in offensive roles tomorrow while but for a busted ankle Daniel Goulding, who struck 1-4 against Mayo in 2006, would also be present. Fiachra Lynch came on as a late second-half substitute in that game and is in line to be drafted in for his first senior championship start tomorrow.
The Mayo line-up in that clash saw Ger Cafferkey at full-back, a role the Ballina man will reprise tomorrow, while Keith Higgins and Tom Cunniffe are fellow survivors alongside him in the full-back line. Belmullet man Chris Barrett is now on the senior bench for Mayo while Seamus O’Shea has developed from an U21 midfielder into a senior midfielder. From the attack Aidan Campbell and Mark Ronaldson are both part of the senior panel while Enda Varley, who came on as a sub during that match, will start at corner-forward tomorrow.
As ever with successful underage teams, some players did not quite make the jump to senior level for a myriad of reasons. From that Cork defence, the full-back Chris Murphy was a noted dual player who went on to feature for the county senior hurlers in the 2009 league. Stephen O’Donoghue and David Limerick went on to win All-Ireland U21 medals in 2007, with O’Donoghue also getting game time with the Cork senior footballers in the 2008 league campaign.
Cork’s centre-forward Cathrach Keane also won an U21 medal in 2007 while the Newcestown man captains the county junior side who face Sligo in Saturday week’s All-Ireland JFC semi-final in Croke Park. Paul O’Flynn and John Hayes completed the Cork full-forward line that day, with the pair both graduating to the senior squad, lining out in championship and claiming All-Ireland medals last September. Both opted out of the senior squad this spring due to lack of regular game time.
From that Mayo side, five players who are not currently in Horan’s 26-man squad did go onto play at senior level for the county. Goalkeeper Kenneth O’Malley is currently the third-choice senior netminder and was in goal for Mayo throughout the 2009 campaign. A serious injury suffered in a Sigerson Cup game in 2008 which saw him lose a kidney has stalled the Ballinrobe man’s progress.
Knockmore’s Trevor Howley and Castlebar Mitchell’s Barry Moran both went on to feature at senior championship level and are presently part of the extended senior training panel. Indeed Howley started in the Connacht opener against London in May but much like Moran, injury has stunted his development this season. Aidan Kilcoyne, the attacking star of that U21 team with a dazzling 1-6 return in the final, has played in senior championship for Mayo and was only cut from the panel this year at the close of the league.
Michael Conroy, who came on as a substitute as a 19-year-old in the 2004 All-Ireland senior final to score 1-2, continues to play football at intermediate level for Davitts and along with his clubmate Colm Boyle, a half-back in 2006, was in the Mayo junior side that reached this year’s Connacht decider. The remaining two members of that Mayo U21 starting 15, Marcus Hannick (Killala) and Joe Dillon (Ballaghadereen) are both still involved at club level.
The number of players on both sides that trained on to become senior footballers is staggering. Of the 35 players that played at some juncture in the 2006 All-Ireland U21 final, 26 (13 apiece) have lined out for their counties in senior championship and league and 18 of those players will be involved in tomorrow’s game. The key difference has been how the Cork players after that match went on a golden run of success with an All-Ireland U21 title in 2007, a national league success in 2010 and an All-Ireland senior crown last September.
As they face their former underage adversaries tomorrow, the Mayo players will be seeking to start emulating those senior achievements.
2006 All-Ireland U21FC final: Mayo 1-13 Cork 1-11.
Scorers for Mayo: A Kilcoyne 1-6 (4fs, 1 sideline), M Conroy 0-3, C Barrett, M Ronaldson, K Costello, E Varley 0-1 each.
Scorers for Cork: D Goulding 1-4 (2fs), F Gould 0-3 (1 45), J Hayes 0-2fs, C Keane, P Kerrigan 0-1 each.
MAYO: K O’Malley; T Howley, G Cafferkey, K Higgins; C Barrett, T Cunniffe, C Boyle; S O’Shea, B Moran; A Campbell, J Dillon, A Kilcoyne; M Ronaldson, M. Hannick, M Conroy. Subs: S Ryder for Boyle (ht), K Costello for Dillion (39), E Varley for Hannick (39).
CORK: K O’Halloran; R Carey, C Murphy, S O’Donoghue; D Limerick, M Shields, E Cadogan; A O’Connor, P Kelly; F Gould, C Keane, P Kerrigan; D Goulding, P O’Flynn, J Hayes. Subs: G O’Shea for Hayes (44), F Lynch for Kelly (52)
Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan)
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/7vmXkobtWz4/post.aspx
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