Naughton's men showing what they can do

After beating Galway and drawing with Kilkenny, you'd think the Dublin hurlers could relax a little, that the hardest part of their league campaign was out of the way. No chance. If anything, it gets harder, as they must follow Sunday's triumph over Galway with the surely unfair challenge of three away games in eight days.

It starts in Limerick next Sunday, followed by the Wednesday evening re-fixture in Antrim, and finishes on Sunday week in Tipperary. Clearly it's too soon for any talk of the play-offs, despite Dublin's impressive start, as they'll probably need to beat at least Tipperary or Limerick to get that far.

But at this stage Dublin are still finding what they've been looking for - consistency, self-belief and a little more respect from inside and outside the county. It's only two years since they endured the worst losing streak in living memory, with truly horrible league form that spilled over into the championship. The manner in which they took on and challenged both Galway and Kilkenny in recent weeks suggests a team on the rise again, not that any of this is before time.

It won't be easily sustained. Limerick will be particularly fired up after collapsing so unceremoniously against Kilkenny yesterday, and Antrim will also be primed for Dublin when they welcome them to the lights of Casement Park tomorrow week. And Tipperary at home are always difficult for any team.

What Dublin clearly have in their favour is a team who are playing for and with each other, and even more importantly for and with their manager, Tommy Naughton. The years spent developing a large section of this team at under-21 level is now standing to Naughton. Clearly, the players believe in him as much as he does in them.

One of those players is Tomás Brady, one of several dual talents on the team firmly committed to the hurling cause. His performance at left corner back against Galway typified the attitude of this Dublin team, that they give as good as they get, and have no great reason to fear anyone.

Brady paid tribute to Naughton in developing that attitude, especially in developing Dublin's steely defence: "Tommy has worked very hard on our defensive drills this year," he said, "and obviously I think you saw the benefit of those against the Galway attack, especially when they came at us in the last five or 10 minutes.

"He has also brought a new impetus to the team as well as an awful lot of positive thinking and doing. The drills are all now being done a lot faster, which is vital to meet the challenge of the modern game. He has also been working on improving our first touch, which is another vital factor if you are to compete with the top teams.

"I also feel that we are physically better prepared and stronger this winter, and that showed against Galway because they are a strong team. In fact, I think that we were the stronger team near the end.

"So I feel that Tommy has done wonders with this Dublin team and it was reflected in the way we played against Kilkenny and Galway, and now hopefully we will keep it going against Limerick next Sunday."

Brady admitted that it won't be easy, and the three away games in eight days (the Antrim re-fixture now looking strangely and unfairly scheduled) means no one on the team can afford to get complacent.

"We will certainly not be resting on our laurels after this victory and we will not be carried away by it either. Playing teams like Galway is the type of opposition you want to be playing all the time and at a consistent level, because that is the only way that you are going to improve and be consistent against the top teams.

"Now our next game is against Limerick and we will be looking for another good performance there. And why not? That is the thing, you just cannot be fearing any of these teams. We have the players there and the potential, and the team seems to be emerging through as a side that believes in itself.

"The footballers have a much higher profile than the hurlers, but I think if we can maintain this standard in our forthcoming games I think the goodwill is there for us to have a higher status also. We just need to keep grinding away and getting the results and producing the performances.

"But it was very satisfying and encouraging to see that heads did not drop when they got the goal at such a vital stage, and we just buckled down and got our second goal and added a couple of points to put us two in front. For a defender to see that is brilliant.

"Those fighting qualities are something that you need to have in a team when you are playing a team like Galway, and I think this win will sow the seeds for some more of the same down the road."