From your minor team 3 years ago, Collins to me was the stand out player for ye. Was excellent at wing back. And Tom Shiel too. Its strange seeing the teams from 3 years ago, the Laois team is very similar to what it was at minor with 9 of their starters at minor still starting, yet Wexford had only 5 retained from the starting team at minor for their U21 this year.
The 3 Ballyfin lads didnt play minor, was there any reason for that? They may have been on the panel, but werent starting or coming on as subs anyway.
They do, but havenât won an U21 in quite a number of years. In fact theyâve been doing poorly enough at underage football and hurling for a few years now. Amalgamations like St Josephs/Barrowhouse (as you can expect from the transfer mentioned above, thats dead now) Crettyard/Killeshin and Sarsfields (Mountmellick/Ballyfin/Kilcavan) have been carving up the U21 for a few years now. Portlaoise are actively sorting out their underage again however, and when they do, forget about it.
The Ballyfin lads were all minor in the last year or two, Moore is different class, but sadly, a bit lightweight.
Youâre not far off with the Minor team, 6 and 2 by the time they played Kildare. Collins has it, but sadly he wouldnât be the first fella from Graigue to disappear after minor.
LAOIS MINORS V KILDARE 2014: Danny Bolger; Graham Weldon, Brian Lowry, Conor Behan; Paddy OâSullivan, Liam Knowles, Trevor Collins; Daniel OâReilly, Brian Daly; Brian Byrne, Tom Shiel, Colm Murphy; Aaron Dowling, David Aston, Ethan OâNeill. Subs: Shane Whelan for Lowry (23 mins), Cathal Dunne for Dowling (half time), Eoin Buggie for OâNeill (42 mins), Dylan Doyle for Aston (44 mins), Danny Luttrell for OâReilly (48 mins), James Smith for Daly (51 mins â injured)
I lost interest in them once they beat Wexford. They beat Carlow in the first round and Wexford in the quarters, so it was off those teams where they have remained quite similar. (team v Carlow U18 2014 Aaron Cooney, Brendan murphy, Brian Lowry, Conor Behan, Paddy O Sullivan, Liam Knowles, Trevor Collins, Daniel O Reilly, Brian Daly, Brian Byrne, Tom Shiel, Colm Murphy, Aaron Dowling, Danny Luttrel, David Aston
As much as anything, it highlights an apathy in Wexford to minor county football. Quite often lads who wont play at minor for some reason or other end up playing at 21. This years 21s had 3 starters and one sub who wouldnt play at minor level (all hurled).