U21 Semi-Finals confirmed for March 31

Monaghan, Cavan, Derry and Donegal all advanced to the last four in the Ulster U21 Championship yesterday.

Cavan were on-top from from the throw-in, with Gearoid McKiernan and the outstanding David Givney on top at midfield, and raced into an early 1-5 to 0-1 lead.

The Breffni county always looked comfortable from there on in and points from Conor McClarey and Niall Smith put them 15 points up with 25 minutes still to play.

Sub Michael Reilly notched a third goal late-on as Cavan eased into the next round, where they will meet Monaghan.

Seamus McEnaney's troops cruised past Antrim in Casement on a scorelin of 2-12 to 2-06. Midfielder Kieran Hughes was the star of the show and it was his goal in the 11th minute that put Monaghan into an earl ascendancy after he rounded off a brilliant three-man move.

Five unanswered points helped the visitors into a 1-7 to 1-3 interval lead and it got worse when points from David Hughes and Chris McGuinness were followed by a David Millar goal in the 34th minute to leave Monaghan leading by 2-9 to 1-3.

Colm Fleming's late fisted goal was only a consolation for Antrim in what was an utterly forgettable performance.

On the other side of the draw Derry smashed five goals past Fermanagh in their 5-09 to 2-12 victory, with Lee Moore chipping in with an impressive individual haul of 2-01.

And Derry will meet Donegal after they scraped past Armagh by a 1-09 to 0-09 margin.

U21 Fixtures:

Wednesday, March 31st (both games at 8.00pm, ET if necessary).

Monaghan v Cavan at Brewster Park, Enniskillen
Ref: E McConnell (Tyrone)

Derry v Donegal at Healy Park, Omagh
Ref: L Smyth (Down)

Cavan cruise past Wexford

Cavan 0-17 Wexford 0-12

Cavan pulled away late on to defeat a poor Wexford side in an entertaining clash at Breffni Park.

The hosts were the better side but squandered a raft of chances, while Shane Roche's frees ensured it was always close.

Cavan were on top at midfield for long spells through Lorcan Mulvey and the excellent David Givney and Cian Mackey made hay with a quality supply of possession.

Cavan fired over the last five points to seal the win.

Interestingly, Cavan scored 0-16 from play. Referee Jimmy McKee didn't award the hosts a single free in the final third of the field over the 70 minutes.

Cavan: F Reilly, E McPhillips, T Corr, M Cahill, D Sheridan, E McGuigan, J McCutcheon, D Givney (0-3), L Mulvey, R Flanagan (0-3), G Smith (0-1, 45) , M McKeever (0-1), C Mackey (0-4), M Brennan, M Lyng

Subs: R Cullivan (0-2) for M Brennan, C Galligan for L Mulvey, M Reilly (0-2) for G Smith

Wexford: A Masterson, J Wadding, D Walsh, N Murphy, B Malone, D Murphy, A Doyle, E Bradley, 0-1 D Watters, C Byrne, R Barry, A Flynn, C Lyng, P Naughter (0-2), S Roche (0-9, 6 frees)

Subs: K Kennedy for D Watters, C Morris for C Byrne, C Deely for A Flynn

Peter Canavan the genius

He had a whiney voice, he looked like a scrawny child but few can deny Tyrone legend Peter Canavan was a true GAA legend. At times, the man showed more magic than Harry Potter and he will long be remembered as one of the Gaelic Footballs outstanding servants.

He won two All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals, six GAA All Stars Awards (more than any other Ulster player, and joint third overall), four provincial titles, and two National Leagues. He represented Ireland in theInternational Rules Series on several occasions from 1998 until 2000. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time and was named in the Sunday Tribune's list of the 125 Most Influential People In GAA History.

His scoring record of 218 points is the second highest of all time in the Ulster Senior Football Championship. In the 1995 All-Ireland he kicked 11 of Tyrone’s points.

Sit back and enjoy watching this man weave his magic.

Mickey Harte Exclusive

Behind every great man, they say there is a great woman. In football terms, normally behind every great team is a great manager.

In recent years the manager's position at inter-county level has become more and more high profile with people like Mickey Harte and Mick O'Dwyer now household names in Ireland. However, with great power comes great responsibility and with that comes even more pressure.

Bainisteoir's these days last shorter time than older generations and just like English soccer teams across the water - county boards now want instant success. With that in mind, I spoke to Tyrone manager Mickey Harte about how he feels about the never-ending managerial merry-go-round that is currently taking place in our country.

All-Ireland winning Tyrone manager Mickey Harte has called for counties to ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ after an alarming amount of managerial casualties since the inter-county season ended.

To prevent the GAA managerial merry-go-round getting any worse, Harte, who has annexed Sam Maguire three times in his seven years at the helm, reckons teams should instead look to gradually improve and measure success in different ways.

“I suppose it’s now aping the professional era over in the Premiership, where managers are just hired and fired.”

“If people are measuring success by winning the All-Ireland - then there is going to be a lot of casualties. There can only be one winner each year, so people need to wake up and smell the coffee and look to succeed and progress in different terms, rather than cups alone,” he said.

Harte admits the media’s influence is growing and any man coming into inter-county management should be wary of this and be ready to deal with it in order to stay at the helm.

“It’s become more professional. Managers need to be aware that when they are going into a position, it’s not just about the football and the success on the field – it’s about handling the whole media circle and that can get to some people if they are not aware of the impact that it can have,” added Harte.

Best goal of the decade

We talked about it and we talked about it but eventually there was only ever going to be one winner.

They say a picture speaks a 1000 words, well this video gets close to the million. Just watch it and let the football do the talking. Take a bow Eoin Mulligan.

For a compilation of other top quality goals click here.

The Ulster Dream Attack

The inter-provincial competitions have long lost their popularity but if all players made themselves available and the tournament received the right kind of marketing - surely it's dying flame could be rekindled.

To put it into perspective. Imagine going to a game to watch these six forwards represent Ulster - and don't forget the calibre of players the other 3 provinces would bring.

Here is my take from 10-15.

10. Brian Dooher: The Tyrone captain's legs are starting to go but nobody can deny his determination and personally I enjoy watching few players more than Dooher.

11. Sean Cavanagh: Predominantly a midfielder with Tyrone nobody can deny he is the modern-day complete footballer. Cavanagh can play anywhere from midfield to full-forward and I would love to see his athleticism and power being used on the '40' where he can do real damage.

12. Cian Mackey: The Cavan wing-forward has blistering pace and is one of the most under-rated players in the province. If he avoids dropping too deep away from the scoring zone Mackey has the ability to tear any defence apart.

13. Stephen McDonnell: One of the liveliest and clinical forwards in Ulster, the Armagh still has incredible ability to score under pressure from tight angles.

14. Micheal Murphy: After almost single handedly carrying Donegal to an All-Ireland u21 final, Murphy had rapidly become one of the country's top talents despite his young age. At this rate of progression, Murphy could arguably become the most effective GAA player ever.

15. Paddy Bradley: Needs to produce the goods when it come the knockout stages of the championship but there is no doubt that few defender relish the challenge Bradley brings with his incredible strength and scoring prowess.

Now I would pay to see them in action.

Reilly and McKiernan set for AFL Camp

Kingscourt’s Barry Reilly and Swanlinbar’s Gearoid McKiernan will be in good company this Wednesday March 3 as they attend AFL recruitment agent Richard Nixon’s latest camp.

The trial-day, which is set to be staged in Gormanstown Co. Meath, will see up to 25 of the country’s most talented young players showcase their talents in an effort to catch the eye of scouts from the Australian Football League.

Among them, according to Nixon, will be a handful of "significant players" who have knocked back AFL offers in recent years but who have since had a change of heart.

Nixon will be joined by scouts from AFL clubs Geelong, Richmond, Western Bulldogs and St. Kilda, who will no doubt be hoping to find the next Tadhg Kennelly.

Many of the players attending are believed to have been at previous trials and the aim is to see the improvement in players, if any, over a number of different tests.

Giant midfielder McKiernan has long been on Nixon’s radar and attended a similar camp back in April 2009. McKiernan’s progress though was halted by a horrific knee-injury last summer, but it is believed the scouts that will be in attendance are eager to have another look at his abilities.

The DIT student has had a patient recovery from that injury but is now back playing regularly with the county u21’s and has shown glimpses of his true potential.

Reilly, who travelled Down Under last summer for a trial with North Melbourne Kangaroos, has told the Anglo Celt that he will definitely be attending.

Last year’s county minor captain has made no secret of his dream to become a professional athlete and Wednesday is giving him another opportunity to show what he can do.

“I’m looking forward to it. The aim is just to enjoy it and try to impress whatever scouts are there so I can secure another trial,” he said.

Reilly revealed to the Anglo-Celt back in January that he has already been offered a second trial in Australia with the same club this summer but he won’t be letting that offer distract him this week.

Many Gaelic footballers that have attempted to switch codes have struggled to adapt to the oval ball but Reilly will surely be hoping to show how he has improved since the last time they saw him.