KIELY CULLS HIS TREATY PANEL
Boss Dessie Farrell has released four ‘official’ team-sheets in the competition so far but on each occasion the actual team that’s lined out has been vastly different. There were at least three personnel changes to the team in each of their Leinster Championship games.
And, remarkably, in the four games so far the only line of the pitch that has corresponded to the published sheet was the full-back line against Donegal in the All-ireland semi-finals.
Donegal took the trickery a step further by announcing four late changes to their own team. As a result, few will be reading too much into whatever team Dublin announce for Saturday’s All-ireland decider with Galway, the last ever game in the competition.
Defender O’shea said: “That’s just the way modern football is, every team does a bit of that. Donegal were all over the place as well. Every little bit counts.”
Full-back O’shea, in his third year as a Dublin U21, said the players have come to take Farrell’s word as gospel. The former Dublin star and ex-gaelic Players Association chief (inset) has guided the county to All-ireland minor and U-21 titles, in 2012 and 2014.
O’shea said the Na Fianna man is a master at picking holes in opponents’ strategies and employed a clever counter-attacking policy to take advantage of Donegal’s tired legs last time out.
O’shea said: “There’s serious trust there, everyone knows their role inside out. There’s huge respect for the management, the work they do is serious. I couldn’t be happier really with the management and we all have complete trust in every decision they make.”
Farrell stepped up to the U21 job in
2013 when Jim Gavin was bumped up to the senior ranks.
The expectation is that Farrell will eventually replace Gavin whenever the three-time All-ireland winning senior chief moves aside.
O’shea said: “I’m sure Dublin would be interested. I couldn’t obviously say, you’d have to ask Dessie that but I think he’s a very good manager and anyone who has played under him would tell you the exact same thing. A lot of his players have gone on to play in the senior ranks.”
The Sky Blues will go in as slight outsiders to Saturday’s final in Tullamore as opponents Galway took out Kerry, the tournament favourites.
O’shea said: “I’ve never played against Galway, I don’t think any of the group has. It will be interesting. From what I’ve seen they play very good football. Obviously Kerry were hugely fancied and anyone I know that knows anything about football has talked this Galway team up to the skies.”
Defender Shane Clayton could miss out for Dublin after aggravating a hamstring injury on club duty.
But senior panellist Colm Basquel is fully fit again and boy wonder Con O’callaghan should last the whole game having been black carded four minutes into the Donegal match.
O’shea said: “I think the team reacted really well to that. The team did its job and has given Con another chance now to show what he can do in the final.”