ALL-IRELAND HURLING U-20 B CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL

Down v Derry

Thursday, Páirc Esler, 8pm.

By Kieran Lynch

DOWN are out to reach a second All-Ireland U-20 B Championship Final in three seasons, when they take on Derry in tonight’s semi-final, in Pairc Esler Newry.

Derry, who were beaten finalists last year, had Down’s number last month when the teams squared off in the league, securing a 4-12 to 1-14 win, but Down will still feel confident that they have enough quality in their ranks to reach an All-Ireland decider with Roscommon.

“Even though it’s in Páirc Esler, it’s going to be a tough game,” said Down’s manager Sean Young.

“I think the two teams are very evenly matched; we played them in a league match a few weeks back, and it was a tough game. They have good hurlers, there’s no doubt about that, and they’re strong physically, so we need to be on our A game to compete with them.

“We can’t look forward to the next game, we’re totally focussed on Derry and we know that it will take us hurling at our very best over the 60 minutes to get by that Derry team.”

Captain Lukas Boyd from Ballycran is a stand-out performer in the defence, Newry Shamrocks’ Aodhan Furlong is a tireless hard worker in midfield and marquee forward Tom McGrattan will look to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

With their key contributions in the last round, Down squeezed past Armagh by the narrowest of margins, in a game that Young feels will stand to his players tonight.

“We were delighted to beat Armagh – it was a tough challenge, there’s no doubt about that,” Young told Gaelic Life.

“We knew it was going to be tough, because people sometimes overlook them a wee bit, but you’re looking at that age group and the schools and the club teams are going very well, so we were under no illusion that it was going to be tough.

“It was the last puc of the game effectively, that got us over the line, but it was a good contest that will stand to them. With the limited time that we have with the team, it’s good to get them tough games.”

The Down u-20s will look to emulate the senior squad who have had a wonderful season to date, winning five of their seven competitive fixtures. With continuity crucial to the development of the next generation of Down stars, Young moved into the u-20 managerial role after two years of involvement with the u-17 squad.

One keen observer for tonight’s game will be senior manager Ronan Sheehan, who will cast his eye of the future of Down hurling.

“Ronan Sheehan would be very much involved in the u-20s,” said Young.

“That allows him to keep an eye on the crop of players that are coming through and basically that’s what we’re trying to do with this team – we’re trying to develop them and hopefully get six or seven of them to go onto the senior county set-up and give it that new blood.

“We share training pitches with the senior team, so that the teams can see each other and that allows them to see the levels of commitment that it takes.“We have this development pathway coming through which seems to be working and the hurling is going well, not only in Down but in all of Ulster.”