A former Laois hurler is hoping to steer the Dublin U21s to All-Ireland glory at Galway's expense tomorrow.

John McEvoy was part of the Laois senior hurling panel in 2003 before going on to win a Laois SHC title with Clough-Ballacolla in 2009. He became involved with the Dublin hurling scene through his work as a teacher at the Marianne College in Ballsbridge, and as well as managing the U21s this year, was physical trainer to the Dublin senior team.

"I've been teaching in Dublin for the last 10 years and I got involved with the Dublin colleges hurling teams," explained.

"Vinny (Teehan) and myself were involved with the 2006 team that won the All-Ireland. With the success of the colleges in 2006 I got involved with the U21 team after that. Ciarán Barr was in charge and then later on there was Richie (Stakelum).

"So I was a coach and a selector there for two years. It has been a gradual graph rather than a spectacular graph I can tell you! One of the things that has happened with the squads from minor right through to U21 has been continuity. There is continuity there between the U21's and the seniors again. That is something that we have tried to encourage."

McEvoy admits that Dublin could have done with a tougher test against Antrim in the All-Ireland semi-final.

"It would be a small concern", he said.

"Certainly against Antrim we felt they would have been a greater challenge. It didn't happen on the day and certainly in the second half we pulled away from them. But it is always great to be in a final. You don't take it for granted because it is so hard to get there," he added. Tweet

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