by Paddy Hickey

Dublin GAA chiefs look set to have to find a replacement for Jason Sherlock as minor team boss for next year's Championship campaign.

Currently a member of Jim Gavin's Dubs senior backroom team, Sherlock also doubled up this year as joint manager of his county's under-17 side with Ger Gleeson from the Lucan Sarsfields club.

"Jason's position for next year is a bit up in the air at the moment, but I think the odds are that he won't be continuing with the minor footballers," explained Dublin chairman Sean Shanley on the St Oliver Plunkett's clubman.

"Coping with the two roles again for next year would probably be a bit too much for him, and so I don't see him staying on with the minors for 2019.

"The reason why Jason was over the minors this year was because he had been with the same group of players in the development squads for a number of years.

"So obviously stepping down from his involvement with the minors for next year would mean that he would be in a position to devote his full commitment and focus to his role with the senior footballers," added Shanley on Sherlock who was in his first year with the under-17 side.

As it turned out, the 1995 All-Ireland medalist's charges experienced a disappointing Championship campaign, beating Louth, Offaly and Westmeath, but losing to eventual Leinster champions Meath and Wicklow to thus miss out on a place in the provincial semi-finals..

"We needed to beat Wicklow to get into the play-offs in the round-robin format, but unfortunately they got the better of us at Parnell Park," the Dublin official  recalled on the 20I8 campaign.
"So it was very disappointing to go out at sch an early stage in the Championship."

Otherwise, Shanley is unaware if any of this year's the Dublin minor football and minor hurling and under-20 football and under-21 hurling backroom teams are harbouring thoughts of stepping down from their various roles.

Definitely staying on for next year's campaign, however, will be Dublin senior hurling supremo Pat Gilroy, who has served only one year of the three year term he was handed last October.

In relation to the county minor hurlers, a tremendous Leinster final victory (6-19 to 7-12) over Kilkenny generated significant optimism by Dublin officials of a major push for All-Ireland honours.

But in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final, Michael Connolly's side bowed out tamely to Galway on a 3-22 to 0-16 scoreline.

"Unfortunately the lads failed to reproduce their outstanding form of the Leinster final in the Galway game," remarked Shanley on his county's last four exit.

"And that was additionally disappointing when we saw Kilkenny going on to qualify for the All-Ireland final after beating Limerick (3-22 to 1-12) and Tipperary (1-15 to 2-10)."

On the under-20 front, the Dublin footballers came up short against eventual All-Ireland champions Kildare in the Leinster final (1-15 to 0-10), and the under-21 hurlers exited against Wexford in the Leinster semi-final (3-15 to 3-12).

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