Athenry aiming to floor fancied Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry in U-21 A final

TWO teams which contested the county minor championship decider three years ago, Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry and Athenry, will renew that old rivalry when they meet again in the 2014 county U-21 ‘A’ final at Duggan Park, Ballinasloe on Sunday (2pm).

In the minor ‘A’ showpiece of 2011, Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry, backboned by Galway’s All-Ireland minor winners Paul Killeen, Padraig Breheny and Shane Moloney, emerged victorious on 2-15 to 1-14 scoreline to claim a first title for the amalgamated club at this level.

In the interim, Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry qualified for the U-21 semi-final in 2012, where they were defeated by eventual champions Craughwell, while last year they looked on course to secure a first ever title at the U-21 grade, only to be caught by 2012 beaten finalists St. Thomas’ in the decider.

However, with many of the players having been involved in the business end of the U-21 championship in recent years, that should stand to the class of 2014, which are tutored by the senior management team of Aidan Hanrahan, Paul Blake, Liam Hodgins, Ambrose Hodgins, Karl Kavanagh and Tom Moloney.

“We had Thomas’ on the rack last year but we didn’t get the vital scores when the game was in the melting pot,” recalls selector Moloney of the 2013 final defeat. “Next Sunday, it is anyone’s game and the important thing will be that we have our own house in order going into it.”

Indeed, while Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry will enter the contest as favourites, Moloney and company are wary of their rivals. “Athenry are putting up high scores all year – they are putting up 18 or 19 scores every day – and it was the same again against Castlegar and Tommy Larkins in the quarter-final and semi-final.

“I saw them against Larkins and Cashel and both days they looked to be in trouble early on but they finished very strong in both games,” says Moloney who hopes, on the other hand, that their recent hard fought wins over Rahoon/Salthill (0-18 to 1-11), Cappataggle (0-20 to 0-19) and Clarinbridge (1-19 to 1-17) will stand to them.

While both squads are missing only a couple of players who lined out in 2011 – albeit, there have unsurprisingly been a series of positional switches – for Athenry’s part, they have probably undergone the greatest transformation.

Enda Gannon now lines out in goals with 2011 ’keeper Damien Fahy moving to the forwards while 2011 corner back Oisín McLoughlin now captains the team from midfield.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.