Nearly simply not enough for Dublin
He jumps the last six lengths clear, but is beginning to run on empty by the time he comes to the famous elbow and the favourite (probably with Ruby Walsh on board) is gaining with every stride. ’Is there any sign of the lollipop that says it’s over pleeeaase?’
And in this game, with thoroughbreds always snapping at your heels, unfortunately you won’t get away with wishing for the finishing line.
When Dotsy O’Callaghan put Dublin four points ahead, I thought they had done enough in Nowlan Park yesterday, but they hadn’t. Being honest, it’s a trait that has been in this Dublin team for a while. They’ve been in this position plenty of times, but whether it’s down to a lack of belief or know-how, they haven’t learned enough lessons, or developed enough worldly wisdom to be able to always close out these kind of games.
We always had this saying, ‘attack the lead’. You never expected Dublin to be able to keep the foot pressed to the pedal when they were 12 points ahead but they still should have been able to drive it on in that position. To be fair to Cork, they never panicked. They kept their heads and just kept sniping points, hoping that a goal might come. When it did, they only believed there was going to be one outcome.
That kind of iron conviction is just locked into Cork’s DNA, whereas teams like Dublin have to work so hard to develop and embed it deeply in their system. Dublin have shown so many positives this spring that they won’t beat themselves up too much about not getting to the final, but it was still a glorious opportunity that counties like Dublin cannot afford to let slip. When they look back on the circumstances of the last 15 minutes, Dublin will be sick to their stomachs.
It’s very hard to be critical of Dotsy and Mark Schutte when they played so well and contributed so much to the performance, but some of the wides they hit late on were killers. To compound matters, Dublin hammered themselves with their indiscipline. Some of the frees they conceded were too cheap at this level. When Pat Horgan scores 0-17 points, you’re rarely going to win any match.
Cork will take massive positives from the win but they’ll still be scratching their heads as to how they got it. The first half was almost a polar opposite to the sides meeting in Croke Park last month. Dublin were aggressive and came to the battle ready to fight. Cork were passive. They were wiped out on their own puckouts in the first 25 minutes. They were blitzed on breaking and ruck ball. I’d say Jimmy Barry Murphy had a right go at the players at half time, because they looked a different bunch in the second half. And when it came down to it, they had the heads and the belief to close the deal.
It would be easy to think Derek McGrath would not have been that gutted had Waterford lost yesterday’s other semi-final to Tipp in the context of Cork and Waterford meeting in the championship on June 7. It gives Cork a right chance now to look at Waterford’s style and get used to their system. But counties like Waterford and Dublin can never think in that manner. National titles are so hard won, so scarce in those counties, that you have to grab them when the opportunity arises.
Waterford have been the story of the year to date and McGrath manager of the season. His players would die for him and the belief they have in him and, in the system he has designed, was fully borne out by the way in which they won the match. They never panicked when Tipperary hit them with two early goals. They trusted in what they were doing, everyone stuck to their role, and they worked like beavers for 70 minutes.
Animal work rate is the absolute kernel of that system and Tipp couldn’t match Waterford for this. You saw ‘Brick’ Walsh when he came off in the second half, he hadn’t another ounce of energy left to give.
You could be critical of Tipp and say they didn’t ram home their superiority when they had a chance, that they didn’t kill the game off while on top, that they slipped into a comfort zone and couldn’t get back out of it, something you’d never associate with Kilkenny.
Tipp were found out yesterday. They were flat. On the other hand, Eamon O’Shea will admit that the best team still won, and that he still has some of the key aces in his pack to return when he plays his big hand over the summer.
The most disappointing aspect for Tipp is that they would have only needed a respectable amount of points when hitting two goals against Waterford’s set-up. Waterford play on the edge. They’re not going to gun you down with a big score. They hope to sneak a goal, which they did with a top-drawer strike from Colin Dunford, but it was still living-on-the-edge stuff. Waterford accept they will need to bring more to the table if they’re going to leave a mark in the summer but they’re getting there.
And they left a huge scorch mark across Nowlan Park yesterday.
