ALLIANZ NFL DIVISION ONE Galway 1-14 Dublin 0-14:HMMM. DUBLIN never really expected the league to start as well as it did and possibly on Saturday night in Parnell Park they didn't expect to start as well as they did against Galway.
Either way happy endings seem not to be in vogue at the moment.
So four league wins on the trot for the Dubs have given way to a couple of defeats and the prospect of a trip to Omagh in a fortnight’s time. Before a ball was thrown in they would have accepted the four league wins as a handsome enough hedge against their experimentation but to start losing more games the more they learn is a little frustrating.
For 25 minutes against Galway things looked hunky dory. Four points from Bernard Brogan and one from Kevin Bonnar had left Dublin 0-5 to 0-1 ahead.
When they attacked they looked impressive. When they tried tactics they were inventive.
Moving Alan Hubbard from the Dooher/Galvin job at right-half forward and on to Damien Burke in the corner was working well.
Dublin had a little swagger.
Little by little, though, they fell back on defence, like addicts slowly crumbling. They surrendered the wings to Galway’s impressive half backs Gareth Bradshaw and Declan Meehan and they struggled more and more in midfield. Galway, even without their sharpshooters Michael Meehan and Séan Armstrong, are still clinical enough in attack.
Young Eoin Concannon popped frees with the serenity of a veteran, Nicky Joyce picked and probed and Dublin spent the last 10 minutes of the first half under siege.
In that period Galway scored 1-7 without reply and the game was essentially decided.
The more the current flowed against them, the more Dublin tried to resist it by packing their defence. They came out of themselves for a while.
Declan Meehan got sent off on a second yellow and Dublin smelled blood in the water.
It was too late however and having set themselves up, chiefly through Brogan’s kicking, for a grandstand finish they nosedived again.
Looking back, the critical blow was landed on half an hour. Galway had pulled back to within a point. Fiachra Breathnach got on to the end of a Galway move, his physicality being sufficient to dunt Rory O’Carroll on to his backside.
Breathnach’s shot came off Stephen Cluxton’s legs and the ball would up trickling over the Dublin line. Having enjoyed a 0-5 to 0-1 not too long earlier the goal had the curious effect of a bell tolling.
The trouble was obvious enough; Dublin were struggling at midfield. Eamon Fennell looking in less distress than Ross McConnell but neither had the size or range to deal with Galway’s pairing.
The trouble for Dublin is the lack of options.
Michael McAuley came in for Fennell in the second half (it must have been a toss up who to replace) and did well but for the summer? Does he have the size or pace? For Dublin the mood of the faithful is, as ever, volatile.
The big picture is still the same though. Dublin are rebuilding and not especially interested in testing the worth of their proven competitors. A forward line with Bernard and Alan Brogan and Conal Keaney starting in it come the summer will be the real deal if a couple of hard and aggressive wing forwards can be found.
There are enough defenders staking claims to make one think that there is a reality TV show to be had out of filming the process. Cian O’Sullivan is the class act so far but from the O’Carroll brothers, Hugh Gill, Paul Conlon and Philly McMahon one would expect a couple of players capable of negotiating the summer. Midfield will be a trouble though.
As for Galway, Joe Kernan’s ruthlessness was visible in his willingness to make first-half substitution and his resources are represented by youngsters like Donal O’Neill, Concannon and Paul Conroy.
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; P Conlon, Rory O'Carroll, P McMahon; H Gill, C O'Sullivan (0-1), B Cahill; E Fennell, R McConnell; A Hubbard, P Flynn, K Bonner (0-1); D Henry, B Brogan (0-11, six frees), K McManamon. Subs: M McCauley for Fennell (ht), B McManamon for Bonner (ht), C Keaney (0-1)for Henry (46), B Kelly for Hubbard (66).
GALWAY: E Ó Conghaile; K Fitzgerald, F Hanley, D Burke; D Meehan, D Blake, G Bradshaw (0-1); B Cullinane, N Coleman; G Sice (0-2), F Breathnach (1-0), J Bergin; E Concannon (0-8, four frees), N Joyce (0-3, two frees), M Clancy. Subs: D O'Neill for Burke (17 mins), P Conroy for B Cullinane (28 mins), C Healy for Breathnach (71 mins).
Referee: C Reilly(Meath).
