Tyrone U20 hurlers bid to book All-Ireland Final spot

TYRONE Under-20 hurlers have picked up a head of steam and will take on Wicklow this Saturday at Darver for a place in the All-Ireland B Championship Final.

Manager Collie Morgan has overseen what’s been a really impressive run to this point, going unbeaten through Ulster before claiming an All-Ireland quarter-final win over Mayo last weekend away from home in Ballina on a scoreline of 3-24 to 3-14.

The Red Hands raced into a 2-14 to 2-6 lead at the interval with Aidan Woods and Shea Munroe bagging the goals, and they maintained their grip on proceedings in the second-half to book their spot in the last four of the Richie McElligott Cup competition.

The Tyrone U20s have supremely promising hurlers in every sector. They’re captained by Éire Óg corner-back Cillian Kerr, while his club colleague Cormac McCrystal has been a model of consistency in the full-back position.

Talented dual player from Ronan Molloy, who plays his club hurling with Eoghan Ruadh, has established himself in the half-back line, Éire Óg’s Francie Hurson, who also lines out for the Tyrone senior hurlers, plays the important centre half-back role, and Eoghan Ruadh’s Ruairi O’Sullivan has had some fine outings alongside them.

Omagh lads Fionn Corry and Eunan Campbell have been regular starters while Eoghan Ruadh’s Correy Bell had his best outing to date up with some classy scores against Mayo. Fionn Corr is partnered in midfield by Éire Óg’s Kevin Hughes, another dependable performer.

Leading the way in the scoring stakes is Shea Munroe, who has scored goal-after-goal in their campaign to date, including back-to-back hat-tricks in Ulster, as well as Aidan Woods, who is one of a number of U20s already making their mark at senior intercounty level.

Their task this Saturday is to see off a Wicklow side that overcame Roscommon away from home, a brilliant game which the Garden County edged after extra-time on a scoreline of 5-16 to 2-24.

Meanwhile, the Tyrone Minor hurlers are in action in their first Celtic Challenge outing of the year, a clash against Kildare on Saturday, their first of four group stage matches. The Tyrone Minors won the Ulster Shield competition with a 1-13 to 0-7 victory over Derry in Owenbeg, and they also come into the Celtic Challenge as defending champions, so hopes will be high of a productive and ultimately successful campaign.