Fintan O'Toole
Conor Brophy (NUI Maynooth - Kildare)
THE progress of NUI Maynooth in the Sigerson Cup over the last couple of years has been remarkable. A college without a rich history of challenging in this competition, managed to reach their second successive semi-final last Friday. That's a testament to the management of John Divilly who has elevated the status of players who have been operating below the radar and midfielder Conor Brophy is a prime example of that. He dominated the Queen's duo of Antrim's Sean Burke and Fermanagh's Ryan Jones in the opening round and on Thursday smashed the dominance of UL's Kerry duo David Moran and Anthony Maher. Then on Friday it was Brophy who was taking the fight to UUJ in the second-half as NUI Maynooth mounted an impressive revival. The Celbridge player has a great spring to fetch kickouts and is a powerful ball-carrier. Well able for scrapping in the physical stakes at midfield and Kieran McGeeney could do worse than put him under league microscope for the Lilywhites.
John Heslin (UCD - Westmeath)
PLAYING in the Sigerson Cup as an 18 year-old should be a daunting task, but the precocious talent of Westmeath's John Heslin made it look effortless. There's been plenty of hype generated about Heslin ever since he starred for the Westmeath U21's whilst still a minor last year. Westmeath reached that Leinster U21 decider where Heslin produced a herculean display that almost denied eventual All-Ireland champions Dublin provincial silverware. The St Loman's player lined out at midfield for UCD in this season's Sigerson Cup and displayed his gifted skills by weaving through the NUIG defence to kick some sublime points in Thursday's quarter-final. He made a promising start in the semi before fading as UCC assumed control. Yet there was enough evidence stockpiled over the weekend to suggest that Pat Flanagan wil be pencilling his name in on the Westmeath senior teamsheet this summer.
Matthew Donnelly (UUJ - Tyrone)
RAYMOND Munroe assembled a stellar cast for Tyrone's 2008 All-Ireland minor triumph and it was then that Matthew Donnelly first burst to prominence. His progress has been incremental since then as he opted out of the senior squad last season to concentrate on U21 duties. But the weekend's Sigerson Cup illustrated that he has much to offer the Red Hands senior set-up. Against Carlow IT in the quarter-final and particularly against NUI Maynooth in the semi-final, Donnelly was in marvellous form at full-forward for UUJ. He gave an attacking masterclass in the last four as he shot five points from play, three off his right foot and two with his left, over the hour. He is a beautiful kicker of a ball and is comfortable shooting off both feet from distance. Saturday's final against UCC saw him struggle when put up against a tight-marking rearguard but the potential base is there and expect him to be drafted into Mickey Harte's plans shortly.
Peter Crowley (UCC - Kerry)
JACK O'Connor's overtures to get Tom O'Sullivan back into the Kerry squad illustrates the need for tight, disciplined corner-backs in his squad. In Laune Rangers' Peter Crowley, O'Connor has a superb young talent on his hands. Crowley, who is still U21 for Kerry this season, was immense for UCC over the three days of their title triumph. He was primed with man-marking duties on each occasion by the UCC management and flourished as he restricted Paddy Andrews (Dublin), Ciaran Lyng (Wexford) and Conor McManus (Monaghan) to a combined two points from play in three games. That was an excellent feat against three established inter-county senior forwards. Crowley is small in stature but robust, and yet he plays with discipline and intelligence, while his distribution of possession is accurate. He warmed the bench for the Kerry seniors in the opening two rounds of the league but should get time on the pitch in the coming weeks.
Sean Kiely (UCC - Cork)
LAST season saw Macroom's Sean Kiely first flirt with the inter-county scene as he was a member of the extended Cork panel during the year. Kiely did briefly see game time during last season's National League but he could now be set for a better stab at breaking into the Cork setup after a series of brilliant displays during UCC's march to the Sigerson Cup title. Last year Kiely played at centre-forward for UCC yet when restored to his natural half-back role for this campaign, he thrived. His marauding runs along the right flank posed problems for all of UCC's opponents and he chipped in with vital points as well. Kiely is a strong ball-carrier and his early points against UCD on Friday after he weaved past four defensive challenges was superb. Kiely's fitness levels have impressed the Cork senior management and that surfaced again during the Sigerson weekend as his energy levels never seemed to dip despite the punishing three-game schedule in as many days. His overall contribution impressed watching Cork selectors Ger O'Sullivan and Jim Nolan.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/aYwCTVnqopg/post.aspx
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