Daly’s heroes have learned from Kilkenny
The Lions won a Test series in Australia, a first male Wimbledon win for a British player in 77 years, an Irishman winning a stage of the Tour de France, but I know that Brian O’Driscoll, Andy Murray and Dan Martin will always reference July 2013 as the year Dublin made the big breakthrough in Leinster, their first title since 1961!
Kilkenny/Tipperary in Nowlan Park on Saturday kicked off the weekend but Dublin rounded it off brilliantly yesterday.
And how the Dubs have learned from Kilkenny.
We saw classic Kilkenny on Saturday evening, the great catches, the physicality, the simple hurling, the pure ability — Dublin had all of that in Croke Park yesterday, which would suggest that yes, you ARE better off playing the best as often as you can.
One thing Dublin had that they didn’t have before is the killer instinct, and again we can reference Kilkenny. They went for the jugular early on, with Paul Ryan opting to shoot for goal when a lot of other forwards might have opted for the easy point. And they went for the jugular again late on when they ended the game with six points in-a-row. That’s what you need, a ruthless streak from Gary Maguire in goal to David Treacy at left-corner-forward.
And mention of Maguire, we must talk about his save from Joe Canning at a time in the second half when Galway were starting to make a bit of a run. It was a fantastic shot, and it took fantastic reactions to keep it out.
I’ve been a critic of Dublin in the past, and I take none of that back. Not this Dublin though, not this display. This was hurling as I think it should be played. Uncomplicated. While they’ve learned that from Kilkenny, they’ve also learned from Galway, learned particularly from how Galway approached the Leinster final last year. They tore into Kilkenny from the start, now it was Dublin tearing into Galway, and doing it with purpose.
There was an intent to everything Dublin did, fast ball into the forwards who then capitalised — it was hot in Croke Park, still high summer, but it was harvest-time for Dublin.
Ten players scored for them and those ten scored from play, 2-21 from their total of 2-25 — that tells you all you need to know. Not alone did Dublin have outstanding individuals, they had an outstanding team display, and that too has been one of my constant criticisms of Dublin over the last few years, their tendency to play only as individuals.
Conal Keaney is a fine player in his own right but he’s also the ultimate team player and was my man of the match.
After this, you’d have to say they are live contenders for the All-Ireland title.
Finally, a lot of Clare players made massive contributions to Dublin teams of bygone decades, when they were winning Leinster titles on a regular basis, but no Clareman has ever contributed as much as Anthony Daly.
To Galway, and what a disappointment. Right from the start they were struggling and it wasn’t until they brought in the cavalry that they began to make any impression. Andy Smith in midfield, Damien Hayes, Aidan Harte and Jonny Glynn all made a difference, which suggests to me that the westerners had picked the wrong starting 15.
Shane Kavanagh did reasonably well in defence but for the most part they were eaten alive at the back; likewise in midfield, though Smith made a difference. And up front Joe Canning tried really hard to bring Galway into this game, but he was a one-man band.
It might be an idea for Anthony Cunningham and his management team to try and take a leaf from the book of their clubs in the All-Ireland championship. More passion, more work-rate, and less focus on systems, of game-plans, of tactics.
This was a bad beating for Galway, on the scoreboard and psychologically. Remember, they were reigning Leinster champions and came within a puck of a ball of being All-Ireland champions — less than 12 months later you get a display like this. They have much to learn but above all, must rid themselves of the inconsistency.
It has already been a great year for hurling, it could get even better.
