U21 co-captain O’Shea has sights set on All-Ireland decider

The curtain comes down on the U21 football intercounty grade this Saturday when Dublin and Galway collide in what promises to be an exciting EirGrid All-Ireland U21FC final in O'Connor Park, Tullamore (5.0).

Both semi-finals throw up shocks with the Dubs overcoming Donegal and Galway defeating Kerry.

Dublin joint-captain Cillian O'Shea knows that to beat the Kingdom means the Tribesmen must have a special team this year.

"Kerry were hugely fancied going into that and hugely fancied to win the whole thing no matter who got through,” says Cillian.

“Anyone I know who knows anything about football would have them hugely talked up so obviously that makes the Galway performance and result even more impressive.

“We saw most of it now and how they played in the first 10 minutes was exceptional.

"They showed huge intensity and talent as well, the quality they have is unquestionable, they scored their first eight shots or something. They definitely have quality and will be a formidable opponent in the next game," says the Kilmacud Crokes man.

Reflecting on Dublin's excellent semi-final victory over Donegal, Cillians adds: "They had six lads who nearly played in every game in the League and they nearly got to the Final. There was nothing bad about that Donegal senior team, so we knew these lads were very impressive.

“We knew about their talent, we saw the big scores they were racking up in Ulster in not the best conditions on wet nights. They are a very talented team and we knew that. We had to be very focused on that game and how we were going to play.

“Obviously Con (O'Callaghan) going off was a bit of a loss, but we just focused on our game-plan, we stuck with what we needed to do. Confidence grew as we seemed to do everything right play by play.”

TICKET INFORMATION

Eirgrid GAA Football All-Ireland U21 Championship Final

Dublin v Galway

Throw In: 5pm

Adult: €20.00/£18.00

Student/Senior: €15.00 Available at the venue on matchday with valid ID

Juvenile U16: Free of Charge

All tickets for this fixture are unreserved