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Under 21 Football Championship Gets underway

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:33 am
by Lone Shark
Results so far....

Gracefield 0-1 1-16 Tullamore
St. Michaels 1-12 0-7 Shannon Gaels
Shamrocks - - St. Patricks Conceded by Shamrocks
St. Colemans 2-13 0-11 St. Broughan's
St. Manchans Gaels 2-12 4-5 Clara
Kilcormac/Killoughey 2-6 2-9 Wheery

Leaving the quarter-final draw as follows...

St. Colm's vs Wheery
Tullamore vs Na Fianna
St. Coleman's vs St. Patrick's
St. Manchan's vs St. Michael's


The only game I got to was the K/K vs Ferbane/Birr game, and it was fairly nerve-wracking in that despite being much the better team our lads did their best to kick it away. Thirteen wides and a bad mix up in defence meant they went in 2-3 to 1-3 in arrears despite having had a mountain of ball to work with. They slowly got in top in the second half, albeit in a laboured fashion too, but you'd hope they'll come on for it. Doon/Pullough in the next round will be a bit of a step up again, but hopefully they'd come on for the game. All things being equal, two more Lonergan brothers, Michael Verney and Stephen Horan (keeper) are to come back in, so there is some grounds for optimism.

Looking at the championship overall, obviously it seems like it's Tullamore's to lose. Four minor championships in a row obviously puts you in good shape for an under 21 championship, and that scoreline against Gracefield is ominous. I've no idea what kind of depth Gracefield would have had, but you would have assumed that with Padraig Duffy and Niall Smith they would have had some possession at least. Tubber/Ballycumber's win over Clara I'd say went down well, and they'll generally be in good spirits at the Tubber end anyway, so I've a sneak that they might give the Rhode parish crowd something to think about, while the other one is harder to call. on the face of it you'd fancy Edenderry/Ballyfore over the Daingean parish team, but I was mildly surprised by what on the surface looks like a comprehensive win over Walsh Island/Clonbullogue/Bracknagh (again, I wasn't there so I'm open to being corrected by someone saying it was level with five minutes to go). Also a walkover won't exactly do Patrick's any favours in terms of helping the players from two different clubs to gel.


If I was hazarding a guess at prices, and I stress that this would be a guess....

1/1 Tullamore
5/2 St. Michael's
6/1 St. Manchan's
8/1 Wheery
10/1 St. Coleman's
10/1 St. Patrick's
16/1 St. Colm's
20/1 Na Fianna