U-21 FOOTBALL LEINSTER FINAL/Dublin 1-12 Westmeath 0-9:ON THE verge of blowing a six-point lead, Dublin remembered themselves. Reverting to a simplified approach, moving the ball at pace and with purpose, Nicky Devereux found substitute Jonathan McDermott who, in turn, fed Ciarán Dorney with an angled sight at goal. Dorney shot with composure to wrap matters up in the 59th minute.
In any sport, momentum plays a huge part in victory. Dublin had it, lost it and found it again. It helped that the very moment Westmeath looked certain to claim a goal of their own their assured corner forward, James Durkan, shot an inch to the wrong side of Vincent Whelan’s goal. On such margins are football matches decided.
It prompted rookie Westmeath manager, both of the seniors and U-21s, Brendan Hackett to dip into the Tony D’Amato lexicon.
“We were in the driving seat. Had any one of those chances gone over we had the momentum. It would have been very difficult for Dublin to come back at that stage. Look, that’s football. It’s inches sometimes,” he said.
They did have chances, born mainly out of John Heslin’s lording of the aerial duels around midfield. Heslin was immense in the second half with Whelan struggling to keep his kick-outs away from the Mullingar man.
But the Westmeath revival mainly stemmed from the accuracy of Conor Lynam. The awarding of frees had Dublin defenders, led ably by captain Jonathan Cooper, exasperated. Much like their Westmeath counterparts were in the opening half hour.
What is a defender supposed to do? A forward carries at pace with three men surrounding him. They can’t two-man tackle so they shadow, guiding him down a safe corridor, sticking their paws in to try and dislodge the ball. It seemed mostly legitimate but the fussiness of Offaly referee Damien Brazil threatened to spoil a fine game.
If, for example, Cooper or corner back Eoin Culligan were dismissed for an unnecessary second yellow card the contest may have swayed Westmeath’s way. It was the inconsistency of Brazil’s calls, depending on where in the field the action was unfolding, that perplexed both sets of backs.
Several players impressed but the fluidity Dean Rock, son of Barney, brought to the Dublin offence may well be further examined at senior level soon, maybe even this summer.
Rock posted 0-6 yesterday, only one from play, but it is his intelligence before possession arrives that separates him from the normal footballer. He knows where he is, knows where his marker is and knows what he wants to do with the ball before it touches his hands. Usually, he made an unfussy yet immediate delivery to the man in space. Never taking anything out of the ball, such a player is like gold dust.
The opening stanza belonged to the defending champions hoping to atone for last year’s collapse against Cork in an All-Ireland semi-final (they now face Roscommon). A Rock free and another by Barry O’Rorke were supported by defenders James McCarthy and Cooper sauntering forward for scores. Dorney nailed a quality point from wide right to make it 0-5 to a single riposte from Callum McCormack.
The sizeable Westmeath contingent gave up an ironic cheer when Brazil finally awarded them a free on 23 minutes. They needed to get motoring early in the second half to have any chance and Lynam posted two quick frees.
Rock clipped over his point from play to, crucially, keep Dublin afloat as Lynam gathered 0-3 in as many minutes mainly due to every collision being called as an attacking free. Lorcan Smyth came in at half-time and he was feeding well off Heslin’s dominance, running hard at the Dublin defence. If he trusted his left foot, he may have had a goal.
Then a Paul Sharry point brought it back to the minimum.
Both teams had goal chances that, if converted, would surely have defined the contest. O’Rorke was blocked by a combination of Ronan Doyle and Darren Quinn with the rebound falling for Dorney, whose shot was weak. Down the other end, Sharry laid on Durkan but his low strike fizzed across the goalmouth. Inches.
As Westmeath faltered, Dublin awoke. Dorney delivered before Ted Furman and Rock added a gloss to the scoreline.
“This Dublin team showed great resolve,” said manager Jim Gavin of 1995 All-Ireland-winning fame. “Great willingness to work for each other as a unit. I think in the end they deserved to win.”
And you tend to get what you deserve.
DUBLIN: V Whelan; E Culligan, R O’Carroll, J Cooper (0-1, capt); D Nelson, M Coughlan, N Devereux; S Murray, J McCarthy (0-1); C Dorney (1-1), G McIntyre, G Sweeney; B O’Rorke (0-1, free), David Quinn (Na Fianna), D Rock (0-6, five frees). Subs: David Quinn (0-1, Lucan Sarsfields) for D Quinn (20 mins), T Furman (0-1) for G McIntyre (h-t), E Keogh for M Coughlan (37 mins), S McGuinness for E Culligan (42 mins), J McDermott for E Keogh (52 mins).
WESTMEATH: D Quinn; B Moran, K Maguire, R Doyle; G Egan, K Martin, J Dolan; D Corroon, J Heslin; P Sharry (0-1), J Egan, C Lynam (0-6, four frees); I Coffey, C McCormack (0-1), J Durkan (0-1). Subs: L Smyth for J Egan (h-t), T McDaniel for C McCormack (52 mins), S Mulvihill for P Sharry (59 mins).
Referee: D Brazil (Offaly).
