GAELIC GAMES:THE FACT Dublin are actually in the final – and there very much on merit – conveys a story of its own. It tells us Dublin have improved significantly in the past year, that they have grown as a team and got physically stronger.
Conal Keaney and Ryan O’Dwyer are notable additions, adding physicality and maturity, and some of their younger players have gained experience and matured. The team’s ball-winning potential in all areas is good. What does all this mean?
Well, it means Dublin have a real and genuine chance tomorrow against Kilkenny. I am expecting to walk out of the ground where you hear people saying, ‘it was a great chance of winning’, or ‘how did they not win that match?’. We have now reached the stage where Dublin are most definitely capable of winning a National League title.
Dublin’s form right through the league campaign this past 12 weeks has been consistent, where they’ve had the chance to win in every match, and it would be unusual for that to change that much before the final. This has been especially true in recent years, since the league has been run in the same calendar year (something I am very much in favour of). It has been the absolute barometer of the wellbeing of teams right through the campaign because they are nearly all in the same training cycles. So, if teams are playing one another when they are both 70 per cent fit, the same result nearly always emerges when they are 100 per cent fit. That’s been the general trend.
Dublin’s improvement this year is reflected in the fact they have reached the final. But, more than that, it’s because they have beaten the teams they were expected to beat. Take Offaly as example, where they lost a game they were expected to win last year. This time they were again expected to win and they beat Offaly comprehensively. Dublin have definitely moved on and they have become more consistent: players like Tomás Brady, Joey Boland (who is back from injury) and Johnny McCaffrey have developed, Keaney and O’Dwyer have been great additions, and they’ve found young, talented and athletic players like Paul Ryan and Darragh Plunkett.
A significant measure of how far Dublin have come as a team is that Anthony Daly doesn’t believe there is any reason to employ a “sweeper” – an additional defender – as he did in the early stage of his management. That’s a sure sign of a growing confidence in the team.
But the real issue which Dublin face heading into this match is whether they will convert the chances they create. There is probably no doubting they should have beaten Tipperary, Kilkenny and Galway in the league and probably pretty comprehensively on the balance of play in those matches. Ultimately they struggled to beat Tipperary, drew with Kilkenny and lost to Galway. So, the doubt remains about whether, even if Dublin have 65 per cent of possession tomorrow, they can win?
Their ability to take the required level of chances which they create is the key going into the final. On this front, I do think the “Spring Series” will have helped because they’ve been playing in front of big crowds and, it must be said, missing in front of big crowds. These things tend to work in a pattern. If they get into a situation where they are missing chances early in a game, it seems to impact the whole team whereas against Cork, when they also missed their fair share of chances, it wasn’t the dominant feature of the game. It was against Kilkenny. It was against Galway. And it was against Tipperary, even through they won that game. If they are to beat Kilkenny, they will need to convert more of their chances.
Kilkenny’s situation is also very interesting. Going back to the night of their first league match against Tipperary in Thurles, it was obvious they were up for the challenge. You could see Brian Cody was absolutely focused on doing well in the league.
Historically, Kilkenny’s league form has mirrored the championship form in the years they’ve done well. It seemed they took their foot off the gas a little last year – but not this year, and I think it is very telling that in some of the league games Brian has looked very anxious on the sideline.
The league is important to Kilkenny but they have been playing throughout the campaign without some of their very best players like Tommy Walsh, Richie Power, Henry Shefflin, John Tennyson, Michael Rice. And, now, just as some of these players are about to come back, they’ve lost Michael Fennelly and Aidan Fogarty on top of that. Kilkenny’s form hasn’t been great – and still they’ve reached the final – but the number of injuries are mitigating circumstances where great players have been out and now they’ve lost more. It will really test their resources.
The air of invincibility that surrounded Kilkenny in their bid for five All-Irelands in-a -row has waned. Cork came back at them. Waterford ran them close. And Galway did a big number on them in Galway. From where they started the league wanting to make a big statement, recovering from the five-in-a-row attempt and saying “we are back”, their league form after the first match against Tipperary wouldn’t be what Brian Cody would be happy with. But then he’s been dealing with a depleted hand!
I also thought they looked very leaden-footed against Dublin on their last visit to Croke Park. I’ve no doubt they will be fresher, much sharper and have a lot more hurling done. Still, that’s only four or five weeks ago and their league form hasn’t been that impressive . . . so, the chance is there for Dublin. The last day, with only 20 per cent of the play, Kilkenny snuck goals from Matt Ruth and Eddie Brennan. It is unlikely Dublin will get 80 per cent of the play this time and they are going to need a much higher return rate from their chances.
Dublin will get the chances to win and the question is whether they will be able to take them. It is a good opportunity for them. I’m not sure if they will take them but, from a hurling perspective, everyone would hope they do. This is Dublin’s All-Ireland, in my view.
The Division Two final in Ennis today is also an intriguing encounter and I sniff an upset in this one. Limerick are hot favourites and beat Clare comprehensively in the first league encounter. But on a drying ground in Ennis with home support and less pressure on them than there is on Limerick, I wouldn’t rule out Clare.
