We know we will have our work cut out: Tom Gray

Wed, 31st July 2019

Dublin and Cork's U20 footballers enter this Saturday's EirGrid All-Ireland U20FC final in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise (4.0) buoyed by impressive semi-final victories.

The Dubs had to resist a strong Galway rally at the start of the second half before emerging 2-14 to 1-10 victors while the Leesiders came from seven points in arrears against Tyrone to run out two-point winners.

Reflecting on last Saturday's victory over Galway in Pearse Park, Longford Dublin manager Tom Gray said: "I thought that it was generally a very solid performance from the lads.

"We got a fantastic start, which allowed us to settle and it’s something that we’ve been able to do in all of our games so far.

"We weren’t too concerned with how the start of the second half went as in an All-Ireland semi-final, there are always going to be periods when you come under pressure and I thought that the lads coped well when Galway got on top during that period.

"We were able to ride that storm out and I was very pleased with how the players managed that final 20 minutes."

Cork have been in excellent form recently following up on their stunning Munster final victory over Kerry by talking the scalp of Tyrone.

"We know that we will have our work cut out as Cork are a formidable outfit who have been racking up massive scores on the way to the final," added Tom

"It’s a fairly tight schedule and in an ideal world, you’d like a bit more time between games to work on things.

"We played them during the development league and I was very impressed with them, but it’s great to be in the final and it’s a match that we are all really looking forward to," said Gray.

That John Kerins Cup U20 Football Development League game took place on Saturday, June 1 in the Laois Centre of Excellence, Portlaoise.

It finished 1-18 each after Dublin battled to earn the draw despite the dismissal of two players.

The Rebels opened up a three-point lead going into the last ten minutes at which stage Dublin had been reduced to 13 men but Dublin showed good spirit to finish with points from James Doran and Brian O'Leary (two) to secure a draw.

The curtain-raiser in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise on Saturday is the All-Ireland U20HC semi-final between Kilkenny and Cork (2.0).

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