Gavin Cummiskeytalks to Dublin's under-21 hurling manager as his team prepare to face Derry.

This band of Dublin under-21 hurlers have been around for a while, be it in terrorising the defences of opposing counties or cutting a swathe in the local skirmishes of the Dublin underage scene. Manager Seán Lane has been along for the ride since they were 13 years old.

Lane is a stalwart of the Ballinteer St John's club, who've done their fair share of churning out decent hurlers in recent times.

"It's not just the Seán Lane management team that deserves credit," he is keen to point out. "If we do beat Derry on Saturday and get to the All-Ireland final we will get plenty of credit but there are so many others you should mention. A lot of people, in a lot of clubs, have contributed to the development of this team."

And then he proceeds to name names. It is a long list: the committed mentors from feeder clubs like St Vincent's, Ballyboden St Enda's, Craobh Chiaráin, O'Toole's, Lucan Sarsfields, Kilmacud Crokes and Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh. "They have been giving us the players in great condition and with the decent foundation for years now."

If a player is brought into the development system at under-14, by graduation from under-21s he has played more than 80 intercounty games.

This week Lane is conscious of the hype. When these skilful young Dubs turned it on and buried Offaly down the home straight of the Leinster final on July 19th they did not just end a 35-year famine at this age level, never mind atone for several recent and painful defeats; they practically guaranteed themselves a place in the All-Ireland final.

What's more it would be a final against the nobility of underage hurling. Cork and Galway meet next week to sort out their end of the deal.

Lane, understandably, refuses to look past Derry. "Well, they won Ulster by beating Antrim and scored 2-16 in the process so they cannot be a bad team. They are big, physical and very fit with players from St Pat's, Maghera, making up the core of their side."

They are managed by Brian McGilligan, the Derry midfield All Star when they won the football All-Ireland in 1993.

"If you talk to anyone in the know up in Ulster, even from Antrim or Down, they'll tell you it came as no surprise that this Derry team made the breakthrough and won an Ulster title for the first time in nine or 10 years."

Lane was the minor manager in 2004 when Dublin lost the Leinster final to Kilkenny and then the All-Ireland quarter-final to Tipperary by five points. The following year seemed like the big breakthrough when John McCaffrey led Dublin to the provincial title, but they stumbled at the penultimate hurdle against Limerick.

The new dawn of Dublin hurling had proved false once more, but those two minor teams, combined with the Dublin Colleges All-Ireland-winning team of 2006 - beating a fancied St Flannan's that included the excellent Limerick corner back Séamus Hickey - are now on the cusp of something genuinely special.

"There will be no taking Saturday's game for granted as the combination of the above three teams have all been there before," says Lane.

"They know that underage Dublin teams have come out of Leinster and haven't performed so they know they have to do it on Saturday.

"It's no secret that Kilkenny have beaten us in three or four finals and then gone on to win All-Irelands so we have been ranked around second or third in the country at underage for a while but just not proved it."

The first among equals, John McCaffrey, put it succinctly just minutes after they beat Offaly last month: "And we're not finished yet. This is going to be a stepping stone to senior success."

Nobody can doubt their belief. Crucially, McCaffrey is back from injury, as he proved that night with a valuable two-point contribution off the bench.

It also appears that Peadar Carton will start after his eight-week suspension, arising from an incident in the match against Tipperary in the All-Ireland senior qualifiers, was effectively overturned when the Central Appeals Committee ordered the case be reheard.

The availability of McCaffrey and Carton is vital, what with Willie Lowry (leg) and Kevin O'Reilly (cruciate) on the long-term injury list and Conor Connolly (groin) and Shane O'Rorke (collarbone) not yet back to full fitness.

"The next step is senior level but they have a lot to learn. Most top senior intercounty teams have an age profile of around 28. Many of this group have already proven they can hold their own at senior level but they may still be devoid of the leadership qualities that only come with experience."

There are many roads still to travel but the coming weeks will define this team.

North's police out in force for Pairc Esler curtain raiser

The PSNI hurlers will be contesting the curtain raiser before Saturday's All-Ireland under-21 hurling semi-final between Derry and Dublin at Páirc Esler, Newry.

The police team will be facing British Telecom in the Ulster junior business houses final.

It is six years this autumn since the ban on members of the Northern security forces joining the GAA was repealed, and the PSNI now field teams in football and hurling.

Asked about the decision to combine the fixtures, GAA spokesperson Danny Lynch said: "The association was asked to provide a suitable venue and setting for the match and we felt that Saturday in Newry would be appropriate." Seán Moran