All-Ireland U-21 2012

Sport
141

[quote=“Turenne, post: 664060”]

If Tipp are any use they’ll win this considering the talent of players we are missing. Our backs are fine, but the midfield is only passable - Drake is a lovely hurler but Kelly alongside him is fairly limited, albeit hard working. Both are fairly small. Forwards are nowhere near as good as they should be - obviously Lehane and Coughlan are class, but Cronin and Brosnan are being played out of position, I can’t say I rate O’Sullivan highly and I have no idea how much hurling Sugrue has been doing. Brosnan and Kelly aren’t in good form. Sugrue and Lehane the only ball-winners, heavily reliant on Drake/Cronin/Kelly winning breaking ball. Sugrue and Brosnan are wild cards tbf, will be interesting to see how they go.

Bench is very worrying - at a push, Wallis is the fourth best goalie in this grade in the county, Finbarr O’Mahony lacks speed both in the legs and in his hurling. Kavanagh is just out of Minors - tbf I haven’t seen much of him to judge him - likewise Barry and Cormac Murphy are just out of Minor and neither distinguished themselves last year, although both are physically strong. Sean O’Mahony is an above average club player. Only two forwards there - Haughney and Murray, the former is talented but small and very inconsistent, the latter has been in decent form lately but he isn’t particularly fast or strong. Neither will offer much impact imo, and neither can win puck-outs. The balance of the bench - four defenders, two midfielders and two forwards - is wrong, particularly when the two forwards are fairly similar.

The team itself is decent but that bench is worryingly poor. The amount of players we are missing due to injuries, the leaving, and other circumstances is considerable - Daire Lordan, Wall, Walsh, Sweetnam, Buckley, Stokes, Deasy, Hartnett plus other lads like Finn, Ian Lordan, Duggan, Burke etc that are not selected for whatever reason. At least four starters, plus a whole load of lads superior to some of the lads selected on Wednesday. Shame really.
[/quote] not sure if that is entirely fair. You would have to know how training is going. some lads may not be selected in favour of more committef players for example.

142

I’m not really having a go at the management - although there are a couple of head-scratching decisions imo and the benh makes no sense whatsoever - the majority of the players missing are out for reasons outside of Ger Fitz’s control.

143

Fantastic news :clap: :clap: :clap:

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U21 Hurling championship launched
05 June 2012

2012 Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 All-Ireland

Championship Launched

TG4 to Broadcast an Unprecedented Ten Live Games

The 2012 Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 Championship was launched at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre today, ahead of the Championship opener in Munster between Cork and Tipperary on June 6th. That same evening, Offaly play Wexford and Dublin travel to Laois for openers at quarter final stage in the Leinster Championship.

Following the success of last year’s off field activity which included the first ever GAA player cam on TG4, Bord Gáis Energy announced that broadcast partner TG4 will show an unprecedented ten live games over the course of the 2012 Championship, starting with the Munster quarter final tomorrow night in Páirc Uí Chaoímh.

It was also announced that the hugely successful player cam will be back on TG4 for the All-Ireland Final on the 15th September and that the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 Championship will again feature exclusive behind the scenes access and video content with the Bord Gáis Energy Ambassadors.

The Bord Gáis Energy team of ambassadors for 2012 was announced and this year includes Conor McGrath (Clare), Sean Curran (Tipperary), Conor Lehane (Cork), Johnny Coen (Galway), Danny Sutcliffe (Dublin), Conor McCann (Antrim) and Cillian Buckley (Kilkenny).

In addition, former Waterford hurler Ken McGrath, who is now part of the backroom team with the Déise, joins Bord Gáis Energy Sports Ambassador and current Cork senior selector, Ger Cunningham, Micheál Ó Domhnaill of TG4 and U-21 All-Ireland winner Joe Canning on the Breaking Through Player of the Year judging panel.

Speaking ahead of the launch Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, Liam Ó Néill said: "The Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U21 Championship has treated us to some terrific hurling in recent seasons and I am confident that we will see more in the weeks and months ahead.

"Today we are joined by some of the finest young hurlers in the game; players who we are confident will illuminate the U21 Hurling Championship this summer. In some cases it will provide players with a perfect stepping stone to the senior ranks and long may this continue. I wish all competing teams every success and I look forward to being present to witness what I have no doubt will be many memorable games over the course of the summer.

“Finally, I would like to acknowledge the continued passion and energy that our sponsors Bord Gáis Energy bring to this partnership and this year’s initiatives are further proof of that.”

Ger Cunningham, sports ambassador at Bord Gáis Energy said, "We are delighted to be launching the 2012 Championship here at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and in particular to be announcing that TG4 have almost doubled their coverage of the U-21 Hurling Championship. I would like to thank Rónán Ó Coisdealbha and the rest of the TG4 team for keeping this wonderful competition front and centre and I have no doubt that we will see many more great games this season.

"This is the fourth year of Bord Gáis Energy’s involvement with the U-21 Hurling Championship and it’s our intention once again to bring the action to fans in our own unique way.

"Our U-21 hurling website breakingthrough.ie will again be up and running with our Ambassador video blogs and exclusive blogs by Joe Canning, in addition to match day activity with the Crossbar Challenge. The fans will continue to be able to access exclusive content and competitions through our social media channels and use of QR codes on match day programmes. Last year we had the first ever player cam in GAA and this year, it is back again and on TG4.

"For anyone that followed last year’s Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 Championship closely, we saw arguably the game of the year between Limerick and Cork. Tomorrow night Cork are back in action against Tipp but we also have games in the Leinster Championship in Tullamore and in Portlaoise.

“The very best of luck to all six teams tomorrow evening and indeed to all the teams for the rest of the year.”

The Bord Gáis Energy player cam will be featured as part of TG4’s live broadcast of the All-Ireland Final and fans will be able to follow the player cam for the whole match online at TG4.tv.

2012 will also see the return of the breakingthrough.ie website which will feature celebrity Q&As, blogs by Joe Canning, 21 Questions Quiz, fan competitions and the Joe v Ger head to head prediction videos.

Fans can continue to keep track of everything U-21 hurling through the Facebook and Twitter accounts, including @LiveU21Hurling which will feed live commentary of matches during the course of the summer.

Bord Gáis Energy’s match day activity will continue to play a central part in this year’s campaign with the now famous crossbar challenge providing half time entertainment, in addition to local radio broadcasts and other promotional activity around the grounds.

Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling

U-21 All-Ireland Championship 2012 Fixtures

Bord Gáis Energy Leinster Hurling U-21 Championship:

  1. Quarter Final 6 June 2012 Offaly v Wexford

  2. Quarter Final 6 June 2012 Laois v Dublin

  3. Semi Final 20/27 June 2012 Offaly/Wexford v Kilkenny (LIVE TG4)

  4. Semi Final 20/27 June 2012 Laois/Dublin v Carlow

Leinster Final 11 July 2012 2 v 4 (LIVE TG4)

Bord Gáis Energy Munster Hurling U-21 Championship:

  1. Quarter Final 6 June 2012 Cork v Tipperary (LIVE TG4)

  2. Semi Final 18 July 2012 Limerick v Cork/Tipperary (LIVE TG4)

  3. Semi Final 19 July 2012 Clare v Waterford (LIVE TG4)

Munster Final 8 August 2012 2 v 3 (LIVE TG4)

Bord Gáis Energy Ulster Hurling U-21 Championship:

  1. Quarter Final 11 July 2012 Armagh v Shield Winners

  2. Semi Final 18 July 2012 Down v Derry

  3. Semi Final 18 July 2012 Antrim v Down/Derry

Ulster Final 25 July 2012 2 v 3

Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 All-Ireland Championship:

Semi Final 25 August 2012 Galway v Leinster (LIVE TG4)

Semi Final 25 August 2012 Munster v Ulster (LIVE TG4)

‘B’ Final 15 September 2012 Venue TBC (LIVE TG4)

‘A’ Final 15 September 2012 Venue TBC (LIVE TG4 with player cam action and full player cam streaming on TG4.tv)

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144

Nice to see the minnows getting some coverage tomorrow night.

145

6/1 for Dublin to win by 16+ MBB.

146

Anyone have an Irish proxy that I could use to access the TG4 live player to watch this match or a link for it

147

They really should have played this in Pairc Ui Rinn.

148

Plenty of surface water on the pitch

149

Did you find a working proxy

150

Check your IM’s

151

Savage amount of rain in Cork yesterday I’m told. That pitch would take forever to drain.

Lehane really has the potential to dominate at this level.

152

Well worked point by Tipp

153

Average enough fare thus far

154

Tis. Pitch isn’t helping, but there have been some poor errors and bad wides in both sides.

155

I see the Cork keeper uses a Cultéc hurley for his puckouts

156

[font=Arial][size=3]
Munster U21 hurling quarter-final
Cork 0-11 0-08 Tipperary, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, 7.30pm[/size][/font]
[font=Arial][size=3]
Leinster U21 hurling quarter-finals
Offaly 0-05 0-09 Wexford, Tullamore, 7.30pm
Laois 0-08 0-09 Dublin, Portlaoise, 7.30pm[/size][/font]

157

Nothing to write home about so far. A big, empty PuiC isn’t really helping the game as a spectacle either. Seems to be a very small crowd in attendance.

158

Tipp’s centre back doesn’t look one bit comfortable there. Surprised they haven’t moved him

159

Looks to be operating at right half forward now

160

Fine score from Collins there