Dublin have quality to answer all questions
In the rush to acclaim Dublin’s superiority in the game right now, it is easily forgotten that this time 12 months ago they were trying to win their first league title in 20 years.
That they managed to do so while withstanding a severe Tyrone onslaught to the end served to validate the work rookie manager Jim Gavin was undertaking, and the Dublin manager acknowledged as much in the immediate aftermath of the one- point win.
It’s always the case that new management welcome early season silverware, but a win for Dublin tomorrow in what is Gavin’s second season would probably be no more than a box-ticking exercise. Given their much envied financial health, even the extra few bob for county board coffers would probably mean more in other counties, Derry for instance.
Coming out of last year’s league campaign we doubted if Dublin could really keep up the exhilarating attacking football that defined their spring campaign and deep down those of us not of a blue hue couldn’t wait for the summer days when the ditching of the previous management’s defensive screen would be seen for the foolhardy move that it was.
Of course it never happened and only in the final ten or so minutes of last year’s All-Ireland did we see Dublin exposed, vulnerable and defensive. Apart from a six-point defeat in Celtic Park on St Patrick’s weekend, we haven’t seen a whole lot of that vulnerability since.
At their best these past few weeks Dublin have forced all pretenders to look on their work and despair. The resolve they now seem to show in every match is the most impressive feature of their dominance. They have worn the mantle of league and All-Ireland champions lightly and as the league concludes we are searching for the signs of weakness or fallibility.
They conceded two goals in a minute before going ten points down against Cork and have shown a few signs of indiscipline in the backline (Cluxton, McMahon and George all red carded) throughout the campaign. That might be something for other contenders to cling to, but the manner of Dublin’s recoveries, and the fact that defending All-Ireland champions are subject to more scrutiny, counters those criticisms.
Worryingly for Derry and all future opposition, the impact of Dublin substitutes is starting to become a factor, just as it did at this stage last year. Between them Eoghan O’Gara, Ciarán Reddin, Davy Byrne and Bernard Brogan contributed ten points off the bench against Cork, with Brogan also fouled for a crucial penalty. Last year’s most influential replacements, Dean Rock and Denis Bastick, are yet to return to meaningful action and the return of the U21 players after next week’s final against Roscommon will only strengthen the Dublin hand more.
Derry are not by any stretch of the imagination a great side, but they are passionate, unified and ambitious and perhaps that’s what this league has been crying out for — a team of Dublin’s equal when it comes to vital characteristics like heart and spirit. Dublin got an indication of Derry’s tenacity in Celtic Park last month but then again, so did Tyrone, Cork and Kerry before them. Mayo were the latest team to discover that you need to at least match Derry on for heart and spirit if you are to win against them.
That character was there again in abundance two weeks ago when the player who most embodies Derry’s game, Fergal Doherty, was sent off on 23 minutes, forcing his team-mates to dig deep against a Mayo team whose fitness and physical conditioning can be punishing in a 15 v 15 contest.
Kevin Johnston, Enda Lynn and Seán Leo McGoldrick (such a loss tomorrow) started pouncing on breaking ball as if their lives depended on it. Ciarán McFaul started tracking back and making tackles with such relish that it bordered on maniacal.
Colm Boyle, Aidan O’Shea and Alan Freeman all got turned over in possession in moves that led to points at the other end, and Chrissie McKaigue, sensing the need to add impetus to a move out of defence, rode off out into frontier country three or four times in the second half to lift the siege and inspire those around him.
I have little doubt McKaigue will match up well with whoever Jim Gavin decides to throw in full-forward tomorrow. I also believe that in Fergal Doherty, Michael Dara McAuley might for the first time in a while meet his match in terms of bottomless spirit. Enda Lynn and Ciarán McFaul were the first half-forwards in some time to put Lee Keegan and Donal Vaughan on the back foot and I believe they can do the same again to Dublin, but the key man is once again Mark Lynch.
Those that know him and have followed his game for the last decade tell us we shouldn’t be surprised by his incredible league form (1-8 against Dublin last month, 0-9 against Mayo two weeks ago) but harsh as it may seem on the man, the acid test for Lynch will come at the end of next month in Celtic Park when he’ll have to deliver with somebody like Karl Lacey or Leo McLoone, who appears to be the consistent choice at centre-back for Donegal, hanging out of him.
Lynch’s stamina appears boundless, the black card rule on bodychecking suits his game and he’s been kicking sensational points. Sometimes, however, he can overestimate his ability from long range frees and tends to shoot from outfield positions when taking the man on and working the ball in are clearly the better and safer options.
Thankfully, Derry haven’t got this far by playing it safe and I expect them to take the game once again to Dublin tomorrow.
They must avoid getting sucked into doing work they don’t need to be doing on Cluxton’s kickouts and if their analysis of Dublin on their laptops has taught them anything, it is surely that they must limit the damage Dublin do when, inevitably, they get a run on you.
In the immediate aftermath of their win in Celtic Park last month, Brian McIver said his players learned that “on the same field as the All-Ireland champions they are capable of playing football” but he might also learn tomorrow the truth of what Jim Gavin said with a poetic flourish after securing the league title — “Pieces of tin are difficult to win.”
Dublin to add to their growing collection of tin.
