Conway: all for nothing if we don’t beat Dubs

REACHING a third successive Leinster SFC final will mean nothing to Laois if they fail to take the title against Dublin in four weeks’ time.

That is the viewpoint of last year’s captain Chris Conway.

“It’s no achievement unless we win it. The weekend was a great performance but it didn’t win us a trophy. We didn’t sit down afterwards and discuss it. A lot of the time there’s too much talk.

“We all know we’ve done nothing yet. We don’t need to be told. Three Leinster finals is a sign of progress but who cares now that we got to the final last year? We lost it and that’s the bottom line.”

Conway’s words will be sweet music to Mick O’Dwyer who has consistently asked these players if they were prepared to strive for further success.

Conway accepts the point. “It’s rare enough you have a day like Sunday. No Laois man was outplayed by his direct opponent. Usually you hope that eight to 10 of your players will get the better of his man, but we did it from 1-15.

“I’m not saying it’s impossible to repeat it but Dublin are a very good team playing as a unit and working hard with talented players. That’s the task in front of us.”

The Laois performance seemed to take everyone by surprise but Conway is adamant that the signs were there.

Heavily chastised for their performance against Offaly, the half-forward points out that they scored 1-8 in the second half. Training since has been as competitive as any of the Kilkenny hurlers’ famed Nowlan Park sessions and the influx of new blood like Barry Brennan and Billy Sheehan up front was the final ingredient.

“Barry gave a brilliant performance. He’s had his share of injury problems with his back the last few years and Billy has added an extra dimension to the team with his strong running. Both of them are physically strong as well and that’s benefited our half-forward line.”

The bookies may well have Dublin tagged with the favourites’ badge for the July 17 decider after the victory over Wexford, but midfielder Ciaran Whelan was offering a much-repeated refrain in the aftermath.

“We’ve four weeks now to work on bits and pieces that didn’t quite go well for us. We’ll be ready for the next day. We’re playing Laois and, you know, we were disappointing against Laois here two years ago.

“Laois are Laois - a great football team. They’ve been in the last two Leinster finals and had a great performance against Kildare. They’ll probably go into the game as favourites.” Only at the very beginning and toward the end did Dublin play with the swagger they are capable of, but this team had the courage to knuckle down to the nitty gritty to take them to a first Leinster final in three years.

“We’re just delighted to have gotten through. We’re back in the Leinster final and that’s what we’re happiest about. It was a hard old game. We showed a bit of character when they got the second goal to bounce back and win the game. So we’re happy enough.”