Billings: Outlook for Dubs not so blue
The Leinster SFC defeat to Westmeath at the beginning of last month brought a wave of condemnation on manager Tommy Lyons’ head for continuing to trust players who many felt had their fair share of missed chances in the county jersey.
Of the 29 players listed in the Dublin panel for that defeat to Páidi Ó Sé’s side, only nine were part of the set-up under former manager Tommy Carr back in 2001 for the three-point defeat to Meath in the Leinster final.
Yet significantly, of that nine, eight were starters both days. With goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton and attackers Dessie Farrell and Ian Robertson returning to the panel in the last month, the total number of survivors from three years ago rises to 12.
That would suggest, despite the introduction of numerous new faces in the interim, the new talent simply hasn’t been up to standard in of key areas. Billings doesn’t see it like that.
“That’s rubbish, people saying this is the same old faces from three years ago. There’s 15, maybe 16 new lads in the panel now compared to back then. Some people will say there’s too few new lads, others will say there’s too many.
“You take away the likes of Ciaran Whelan, Jason Sherlock, Paddy Christie and Darren Homan who are 28 or 29 and the rest are all young lads.”
Equally, says the St Vincent’s club man, the conveyor belt is in full swing, as results outside of the senior grade certainly seem to suggest.
“Our minors won the Leinster last year and only lost to Laois in the All-Ireland final replay. They are playing a Leinster semi-final against Laois again next week, and our juniors are out the next night and we were the U21 All-Ireland champions last year. Things aren’t bleak at all when you look at that.”
The bottom line however, is that Dublin find themselves plotting a course for Carrick-on-Shannon rather than contemplating another Leinster final. For Billings, who has been watching the cream of the country’s talent in action at colleges level with UCD these past few years, the evolution taking place is no surprise.
“Look at the way the GAA has evolved. Before, everyone was only paying lip service, saying it would be great if these counties came through. Well, it’s happening now and it’s fantastic. Westmeath have played three very tough games to get where they are and Laois came through a tough test against Carlow and beat Meath to get to the final. They deserve to be there.”
That Dublin are where they are can be put down in large part to an inability to string together a consistently competitive 70 minutes. Beginning the game against Westmeath they were sublime yet by it’s end they didn’t look too far short of the ridiculous.
Billings suggests there hasn’t been all that much between success and failure for the Dubs in recent memory though.
“We’ve got to win games. That’s the bottom line. We seem to be starting off brilliantly but not finishing as well. I don’t care whether we play brilliantly at the start, finish or any other time as long as we win games. There was very little in it against Westmeath and the same with Armagh the last few years. It’s that close.”
After the fallout of the Westmeath defeat, it seems strange to think Dublin are still very much in the hunt for All-Ireland glory. Declan Rowley’s Leitrim are the next obstacle in Tommy Lyons’ path as he looks to achieve his minimum goal of competitive football come August, but Billings isn’t prepared to look beyond tomorrow. Favouritism has already left them badly burned this summer, after all.
“Leitrim drew with Roscommon who had drawn already with Sligo so we know they’re capable of good football. We’d know a lot about their lads through college matches and what have you. They’ve done a great job keeping the game alive up there on the resources they have. They deserve great credit for that. The game is in Carrick-on-Shannon as well, so it won’t be easy.”
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