AND THEN THERE were four.
The race is on to succeed Tyrone as EirGrid All-Ireland U21 football champions and both semi-finals are down for decision at O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Saturday.
We’ll be following the action LIVE while also providing match reports and reaction from the venue.
To whet your appetite for what lies in store, we’ve taken a closer look at eight players who should have a key influence on proceedings.
1. Liam Irwin (Mayo)
Irwin sprung to national prominence when he scored this brilliant goal for Mayo against Roscommon in the 2013 Connacht minor championship final.
He finished the year with an All-Ireland minor medal and has now progressed successfully to the U21 ranks.
Irwin scored 1-3 in the recent Connacht U21 final win over Roscommon, all of his points coming from placed balls.
He’s also played in two of the last three Mayo SFC finals but Irwin’s club Breaffy suffered defeat to Castlebar Mitchels on both occasions.
2. Ryan McAnespie (Monaghan)
At the start of 2013, many Tyrone people harboured genuine hopes that Ryan McAnespie would line out for the county.
But he’s the player that got away from the Red Hands as he’s now firmly established as a senior and U21 player with Monaghan.
Ryan’s mother Brenda was a long-serving ladies footballer with Monaghan and his sisters Ciara and Aoife are both current stars.
Both Tyrone and Monaghan were vying for McAnespie’s services and he returned to haunt Tyrone in the recent EirGrid Ulster U21 final.
3. Colm Basquel (Dublin)
Colm Basquel enjoyed a remarkable 48 hours along with clubmate Shane Clayton last month.
Both players featured in the AIB All-Ireland senior club football final for champions Ballyboden St Enda’s before coming off the bench for the Leinster U21 semi-final victory over Laois.
Basquel scored 1-1 against Castlebar Mitchels at Croke Park, added 1-3 against Laois and also bagged a point in the Leinster final victory over Kildare.
Basquel is a 2014 Leinster minor medallist who also tasted U21 provincial glory last year.
He also won a Sigerson Cup title with UCD earlier this year.
4. Sean White (Cork)
White was empty-handed from his minor days with Cork but has made up for that in the U21 ranks.
The Clonakilty player was centre back on the 2014 provincial U21 winning team and remained in that position as Cork suffered final heartbreak against Tipp last year.
He’s since made the switch into midfield and scored one of Cork’s goals in the recent Munster final victory over Kerry.
A Sigerson Cup player for UCC in the past two seasons, White was a member of Brian Cuthbert’s Cork senior squad in 2014 but was unavailable last summer as he was out of the country.
5. Michael Plunkett (Mayo)
A 2013 All-Ireland minor medallist with Mayo, Plunkett is now making waves in the U21 ranks.
The Ballintubber player scored the winning point in the recent Connacht final victory over Roscommon and now has Leinster champions Dublin in his sights.
It’s been a great year so far for influential half-forward Plunkett, who lined out for DCU in their All-Ireland Freshers final victory over UCD at Croke Park.
Plunkett also won a Mayo SFC medal with Ballintubber in 2014, when he lined out at corner back.
6. Barry McGinn (Monaghan)
At the start of the year, the Monaghan seniors were handed a spanking by Ulster University in the McKenna Cup.
But one of the few positives to emerge for Monaghan was the performance of debutant Barry McGinn, who scored 1-3.
McGinn is well known to Monaghan fans as he scored two goals after coming on as sub in the 2013 Ulster minor final.
He also led Our Lady’s Castleblaney to MacLarnon Cup glory last year and when his club Doomahelt went all the way to the 2015 Ulster intermediate semi-finals, McGinn bagged 1-38 en route.
He was Monaghan’s top scorer in the EirGrid Ulster U21 final victory over Tyrone, notching six points.
7. Con O’Callaghan (Dublin)
Scorer of 1-7 in the EirGrid Leinster U21 final victory over Kildare, O’Callaghan is a player very much in form.
A dual minor intercounty player in 2014, O’Callaghan was also on fire for his club Cuala in last year’s county junior A hurling final.
O’Callaghan hit 3-6 from play as Cuala racked up 4-22 in their final victory over Scoil Uí Chonaill and he went on to score two points in the AIB Leinster senior club hurling final defeat to Oulart-the-Ballagh.
It appears, however, that O’Callaghan’s long-term future is as a footballer at intercounty level.
O’Callaghan has already made his debut this year for Jim Gavin’s Dublin seniors and could feature during the summer when U21 commitments come to end.
8. Cian Dorgan (Cork)
Cork’s matchwinner from the EirGrid Munster U21 football final against Kerry banished any lingering memories from the defeat to Tipperary 12 months previously.
Cian Dorgan came off the bench to break Kingdom hearts in Tralee and the significance of his score wasn’t lost on the Ballincollig player at full-time.
Dorgan also came on as sub against Tipp in the 2015 decider and scored 1-1 against the Premier County.
Right at the death, Dorgan’s late effort to equalise the game drifted narrowly wide but a year later, he made amends in sweet fashion.
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