Anthony Daly: Dublin know exactly where they are going and Galway are really onto something
ON THE ROAD: Dublin's Conor Donohoe signs an autograph for a fan after the win over Carlow. Pic: Nick Elliott, Inpho
When I was Dublin manager in 2013, we were playing Carlow in our final regular Division 1B league game in Parnell Park. And we had to win to reach the final.Â
I’ll never forget the drive up to Dublin because I was in dread of what could happen, and what probably would have happened, if we had lost.
Back then, if you can remember – Limerick certainly can because it effectively took them a decade to escape the division – 1B was a bearpit. The top two teams reached the final but only the winners were promoted. After getting relegated the previous year, the Dubs were desperate to go back up.
We still had to get to the final to give ourselves a chance because Limerick were effectively in the decider and Offaly were ready to pounce if we slipped up against Carlow. And that thought tortured me the whole way from west Clare to Dublin; if we lose now, where do we – and I – go next?
The Dubs won comfortably. It might not have seemed significant at the time but it was a big game during my time with Dublin. We went on to beat Limerick in that 1B final before going on to win a first Leinster title in 52 years that summer.
That memory came into my head as I drove to Dr Cullen Park for the Carlow-Dublin game on Saturday evening. The Dubs had to win to reach a 1B final but I doubt that Niall Ó Ceallacháin was sweating on the journey down like I was 13 years ago.
It might seem strange now considering the Dubs had won a Division 1 league title just two years earlier, in 2011, but the group just weren’t that confident in ourselves at that particular time. Relegation had been a blow while the 2012 championship had been a disaster for us. Annihilated by Kilkenny in Leinster, a 14-man Clare torpedoed us in Ennis and turned the project on its head.
Nobody really knew where we were going in 2013 but Dublin seem very focussed on where they are headed in 2026. They did get hammered in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final but beating Limerick hinted at the potential in the group. And this spring has been all about building on that progress.
They had 0-18 on the board by half-time. And yet, the Dubs still only led by three points because Martin ‘Mouse’ Kavanagh and Chris Nolan scored two of the best goals I’ve seen scored in this league. I’d say Ó Ceallacháin was like a lunatic at the break. The Dubs eventually won by 14 points but it would have been far more only for an outstanding display from Carlow goalkeeper Kyle Foley, who made four incredible saves.
It was job done for Dublin, who have secured promotion back to the top flight, but this was another reality check for Carlow. This really was a potential Leinster title winning side against a team that, on this form, will struggle to win the Joe McDonagh Cup.
Dublin have improved but Carlow have regressed. They are in transition. It’s not easy on Pat Bennett to go in after a fella who has won a Joe McDonagh and drew with Kilkenny in Leinster but Carlow certainly appear to have lost a lot of the surety and confidence they had under Tom Mullally.
I listened to the Limerick-Galway match on the radio on the way home before watching it back later on. Galway’s performance confirmed what I’ve felt about them all spring – that they are onto something special with this group. There was real cohesion, clarity and fluency in Galway’s play – which wasn’t there last year – but they played with a sense of pride, bravery and defiance that you’d associate with a side led by Micheál Donoghue – who is Galway’s greatest manager since Cyril Farrell.
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Limerick were devastating when they wanted to be but it was obvious from the post-match interviews of Cathal O’Neill, Nickie Quaid and Kyle Hayes that they were disappointed with their consistency within the game. It’s hard to keep the pedal to the floor for a full 70 minutes but Limerick dropped off big time in the second half, which allowed Galway to dictate the tone and tempo of the game far more than Limerick would have liked.
Limerick never like to give their opponents – especially a side with a raft of new and talented young players – a sense that they can get at them but Galway certainly got a sniff of that here. It’s rare too that you see Limerick conceding 0-31.
Limerick put up an impressive 2-27. And yet, if I was to be critical of John Kiely’s side, I still think they under-utilise Aaron Gillane inside. Limerick have always shot from distance. Trying to get off close to 50 shots is their creed but it still must be frustrating for Gillane to see so many balls flying over his head when he is such a proven ball-winner – and goalscorer.
He just has to be patient because that’s how Limerick roll. And then when one ball did come off the post, Gillane was there to pounce and put it into the net. It reminded me of an afternoon I spent once on the great Cork corner-forward John Fitzgibbon. I was only a young lad. I thought I had done great, not giving Fitz a sniff. And then, one ball came off the post and bang – Fitzgibbon had the sliotar in the net before I knew what had happened.
If you didn’t know the result (which I did at the time) you’d have thought that Galway were goosed after that goal but they stormed back and nearly won it at the death only for some mad-cap Limerick goal-line defending with the last play.
Despite that harem-skarem stuff at the end, Limerick will still take a lot out of this game. Cathal O’Neill and Adam English were outstanding again. So was Will O’Donoghue, who has really settled in at number 6. And Limerick still did what they set out to do at the outset of this competition – get to the league final. And they had a fair idea of who’d they probably be meeting once they got there.
Cork showed again how much of a goalscoring machine they can be. There was very little Offaly could do to stop them but the last thing Johnny Kelly needed ahead of championship was a 24-point beatdown after already taking a handful of beatings.
That’s the problem sometimes with trying to learn in 1A while also still trying not to dilute confidence. Kildare took a bit of a hiding from Wexford in 1B on Saturday but you’d still have to say that this has been a far better league for the Lily-whites than it was for Offaly.
It hasn’t been a good league campaign for Antrim either but Down finished on a real high – despite having already been relegated – after a last-gasp Donal Hughes goal snatched victory in Newry. It’s a real boost for Down ahead of the Joe McDonagh but this was another reality check for Antrim.
I said here on Saturday that I expected a dinger in Thurles and that’s what we got between Tipp and Kilkenny. Forget that there was nothing at stake in terms of the league – there is always a lot at stake when these sides meet. There was even more on the line for Kilkenny after the disastrous performance in Galway, but Derek Lyng got the fight and spirit that was lacking in Salthill.
Derek also saw what TJ Reid can still bring to the team – his dinked goal over Rhys Shelly was pure genius. Their issues in the centre of their defence haven’t gone away but if Kilkenny get Adrian Mullen back firing like he can, they’ll be a match for anyone. You couldn’t read too much into this game but was the perfect game for both sides. Kilkenny needed it more than Tipp. And I think they got more out of it.
We are getting the league final we all kind of wanted – and expected – and it appears now that it will be a double-header in Limerick with the 1B final. As a Clareman, I’m delighted, because the venue is so handy for Clare people. But as someone with a real affinity and loyalty to Dublin hurling, I just can’t understand it.
Why are they being brought down to Limerick to take on Clare again – as what happened in the 2023 All-Ireland quarter-final? Why couldn’t they have tossed a coin? That might sound unnecessary but I think it would have been better preparation for Clare and Dublin for the Munster and Leinster championship by going into a hostile away atmosphere than playing a curtain-raiser where the mood will only warm up as the ground slowly fills up.
The Gaelic Grounds will still probably be half-empty by the time that 1B final is over. There will be a mad scramble for tickets for loyal Clare and Dublin fans because the vast majority will – rightly – go to Cork and Limerick supporters. Whereas if it was a stand-alone fixture, you’d have had 10,000 in Parnell Park, while Cusack Park would have been packed to capacity.
I just think it’s a strange decision.
Finally, it was desparately sad news that came through yesterday morning about Michael Lyster. I got to know Michael well when he was the main man on The Sunday Game. A brilliant broadcaster and a great guy. He was smooth on the air, but behind the scenes he just had a brilliant knack of making everybody around him just feel relaxed and confident. Condolences to his family and friends.Â
