Gaelic Games

Mattie Kenny vindicated as Dublin deliver against Galway

Capital reach first Leinster senior hurling final since 2014 after impressive victory

Dublin’s Ferghal Whitely celebrates at the final whistle after his side beat Galway in the Leinster SHC semi-finals. Photo: Brian Reilly-Troy/Inpho

Paul Keane at Croke Park
Mon Jul 5 2021 - 05:00

Dublin 1-18 Galway 1-14

It’s just nine days ago that the hurling cognoscenti wondered if Dublin would beat Antrim, the Joe McDonagh Cup holders, in the opening round of the Leinster SHC. “Not so sure,” was the general response.

Dublin ultimately put 3-31 on the board that day, following it up with Saturday’s landmark win over Galway and will face Kilkenny on July 17th in their first Leinster final since 2014.

Beating Galway was Dublin’s most significant win, in league or championship, in 25 months since taking down, as it happens, Galway in June of 2019 at nearby Parnell Park.

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Throw in a league campaign that yielded three losses from five and, ultimately, a lower finish in the table than Antrim and the pundits’ scepticism was understandable.

“It’s a step we wanted to make,” said Dublin manager Mattie Kenny of reaching the provincial final. “We wanted to come and give a really good performance and take a step forward. This group has been working really hard for the last two years.

“Sometimes the public judge you on results and they don’t see the work that is going on in the background. Sometimes you can say, ‘we’re making progress and we’re building’ but it’s a results based game and that’s what you’re judged on.”

Kenny seemed a little put out by the commentary that Dublin were going nowhere fast in the league, ending that competition on an apparent low note following defeats to Clare and Wexford.

“That’s your words, not mine,” he snapped. “We never said we finished the league on a low note. We said we were very happy with the league. That was our words consistently. We used the league to look at a lot of players. We played well in the league. There were only two scores in any game we played. We said all along that we were using the league to build for the championship and that’s exactly what we did.”

Even after losing to Clare last month, Kenny told reporters afterwards that things were “panning out nicely” for Dublin and while it was a curious quote at the time, the Galway native was clearly hatching a grander plan for championship progress.

Dublin’s Riain McBride shoots on goal. Photo: Brian Reilly-Troy/Inpho

Perhaps Galway took them a little for granted too. Their early obsession with goals and Joe Canning’s decision in particular to shoot for goal from a second minute free even smacked a little of arrogance. Canning’s day didn’t get much better, the 2017 Hurler of the Year falling well short of the 0-14 haul required for him to overtake Henry Shefflin as the championship’s all-time leading scorer.

Canning did score 0-6 but struck six wides and failed to convert nine scoring chances in total, a Joe no-show perhaps linked to his recent admission that a scan of his thumb revealed an old fracture.

“I wasn’t talking to him about that at all, possibly,” shrugged manager Shane O’Neill on the Canning issue.

Galway have a second opportunity in the qualifiers at least. Dublin will try to maintain their strong form and to relieve Kilkenny of the Bob O’Keeffe Cup when they return to Croke Park on Saturday week.

On this form they have to be given a chance. From goalkeeper Alan Nolan - four terrific saves, precise distribution, a long-range point from a free - to Cian O’Callaghan, Conor Burke and the new fulcrum of the team, the half-forward line, Dublin truly delivered as a unit.

In scoring terms, they led from pillar to post, two ahead at half-time and four at full-time, capitalising on their precise passing game. When Galway raised a brief gallop and netted through Conor Whelan in the 43rd minute, Dublin shut the door and re-established a five-point lead thanks to Chris Crummey’s major.

“The last 10 minutes, obviously we were coming under a lot of pressure, massive pressure from Galway,” said Kenny. “They were pressing for that goal that would bring them back into it. What I was really happy with was, at times you can get the ball and just drive it down the field, and Galway were set up to mop that up and to come right back at us, so there were times when we played it out of defence. We were brave. They minded the ball well, used it well.”

The only negative was full-back and former captain Eoghan O’Donnell’s hamstring injury. Kenny said he will undergo scans and be assessed.

Dublin: A Nolan (0-1, 1f); C O'Callaghan, E O'Donnell, P Smyth; J Madden, L Rushe, D Gray (0-2); R McBride (0-1), C Burke (0-1); D Burke (0-6, 4f), C Crummey (1-0), D Sutcliffe (0-3); C Boland (0-1), R Hayes (0-2), C O'Sullivan (0-1).

Subs: M Schutte for Boland 30-f/t (blood), O O'Rorke for O'Sullivan 52, A Dunphy for O'Donnell 58, J Malone for Madden 68, P Crummey for C Crummey 72, F Whitely for Hayes 75.

Galway: E Murphy; S Cooney, G McInerney, D Morrissey; P Mannion (0-1), Daithi Burke, F Burke; S Loftus, C Mannion (0-1); C Cooney (0-1), J Canning (0-6, 4f, 1 65), A Tuohey; C Whelan (1-2), J Cooney, B Concannon.

Subs: David Burke for Tuohey 34, E Niland (0-2, 1f) for Loftus h/t, A Hare (0-1) for S Cooney 56-60 (blood), TJ Brennan for F Burke 58, Harte for J Cooney 61, N Burke for C Cooney 67.

Referee: J Murphy (Limerick).