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Naill O'Dea, Colm Carr, Phil Ryan & Kevin Twomey face Kildare in Leinster Final on Sun - Thu, 9 Jul 2009

Best of Luck to Naill O'Dea, Dublin Minor Captain Collie Carr(above), Philip Ryan & Kevin Twomey this Sunday. The Dublin Minor Footballers face Kildare in the Leinster Championship Final in Croke Pk. Its sure to be tough game with Kildare having improved massively at underage this year. Dublin beat Offaly in the last round after extra-time. Throw-in at 12.15 in Croke Pk. Get in there early and hopefully we will see Collie lifting the Leinster Cup.

Preview:

It's the Dubs versus the Lilies on the double in Croker this Sunday as Dublin's minor footballers face Kildare in the Leinster final curtain-raiser (12.15). Dublin will be attempting to claim their first provincial crown at this level since 2003. With both sides having shown excellent form and with the same counties involved in the senior final, a healthy crowd will be in early and they should be rewarded with an absorbing contest between two evenly matched sides. After a comfortable first-round defeat of Louth back in April, the Dubs have been walking a tightrope in their subsequent two games, needing extra-time to account for Laois and Offaly respectively.

The manner of their extra-time victories has been particularly impressive which augurs well for the levels of character and fitness that the panel possess, qualities they'll require if they're to overcome a powerful Kildare outfit. Similar to Dublin, the Lilywhites have struggled at minor level in recent times but after comprehensively beating Wicklow and Wexford in earlier rounds, Kildare travelled to Navan in the semi-final and knocked the title holders Meath out of the Championship with a performance of great heart, coming back from five points down to eventually prevail by 1-8 to 0-10. Kildare's team has a nice balance to it with Seán Dowling and Kevin Corrigan offering great protection in defence from full-back and centre-back respectively whilst the midfield of Tomas Moolick and John Comerford were pivotal to Kildare's comeback against Meath.

Darrock Mulhall bagged 1-5 the last day and with forwards of the calibre of Paul Cribbin and Pádraig Fogarty in great form, Dublin's defence will need to be on top of their game to withstand the Kildare scoring threat. Dublin manager Cyril Kevlihan is certainly expecting a tough encounter on Sunday and will certainly not allow his players to underestimate the challenge. "We have the utmost respect for Kildare. To go to Navan and beat what many people regarded as the favourites for Leinster is a fine achievement and has to be respected. They are real contenders at this stage."

Preparations have gone well for Kevlihan since the Offaly win with no new injury concerns to worry about although Cormac Diamond, who missed the semi-final victory with a foot injury, is unlikely to be ready in time for Sunday. The Thomas Davis clubman senses great excitement in the panel ahead of Sunday's mouthwatering clash and is thrilled at the prospect of playing at headquarters in a provincial final. "Things have gone well for us so far this year and we're confident that if we play to our potential we'll have a great chance. "It is a great day for both minor teams and a huge honour to play there. We just hope we do ourselves justice on the day and hopefully the result will take care of itself," he added.

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