BACK on the first day of March, Anthony Daly smacked against his first roadblock as Dublin manager. On one of those turgid hurling league afternoons, his side were squeezed out by Limerick on a 1-11 to 0-12 scoreline.
Up until then Daly’s incarnation as the head hurling honcho in the capital had brought nothing but tidings of joy. Amidst soaring optimism that Daly was the man to lead the way, Dublin had began their league campaign in storming fashion with wins against Cork and Galway.
But that Limerick match reminded Daly that his burgeoning charges still had some distance to travel. They conceded of a horrendously soft goal after half-time, skewed scoreable frees wide of the post and started to panic wildly late in when calmness was needed.
Afterwards in the bowels of the Gaelic Grounds, Daly stood slouched against a wall and talked of the need for his players to keep working, keep believing and keep gaining experience.
This Sunday, Dublin renew acquaintances with Limerick, in a match that has far greater implications with its status as an All-Ireland quarter-final. But everything Daly’s team has done since March 1, has suggested they learned every salient lesson they could from that league reversal.
Their defence has become a more watertight unit and while Martin Comerford’s goals were the difference in Kilkenny’s Leinster final win, Dublin policed Shefflin, Brennan and Larkin as effectively as any team over the last five years. The freetaking difficulties have been corrected with Alan McCrabbe shooting the lights out from placed balls ever since.
And those times when panic could have set in – after a mediocre Leinster quarter-final first-half against Antrim, during Wexford’s powerful Leinster semi-final finale and anytime Kilkenny strung together scores in the Leinster final – Dublin’s youngsters have been unruffled, trusting their hurling until the final whistle.
It generated consecutive wins over Antrim and Wexford, and ensured the eastern province avoided another Kilkenny massacre in the decider.
Of course they need to maintain their progress now. They’ll have to grow accustomed to the tag of favouritism for this match against a Limerick side who have staggered through their hurling summer to date.
A loss here will end Dublin’s season on a dreadfully hollow note and Daly’s hurling mantra will have ensured that he will imbue into his side an aversion to moral victories.
Illustrate that they have learned from March 1 and Dublin will be preparing for a first All-Ireland semi-final since 1961. Who said the league never had its uses?
