Dublin back in paradise as the Messiah ends famine
As one year ended as heartbreakingly as the last, it looked like the Dubs had refined losing on the big occasion into an art-form.
For the briefest of moments in yesterday’s Leinster football final, the Hill buried faces in hands and saw history repeating itself again. Darren Magee’s loose pass was snatched upon by Tadhg Fennin, and Dublin were behind at a crucial stage in this wonderful game they had controlled.
This incarnation of Dublin are made of sterner stuff.
Twelve minutes later, history did repeat itself from that infamous final two years ago. Repeated itself with the roles reversed. Alan Brogan and Ray Cosgrove, part of a Dublin full-forward line who accounted for more than 70% of Dublin’s scores, were the heroes.
Their two goals, finished with all the swagger you expect from the Dubs of old, ended the capital famine. When the sub keeper does cartwheels in celebration and a team tries to climb over the barrier and into the Hill for celebrations, it is a famine we are talking about.
And here is the man responsible for it all. A smiling Messiah in an Arnotts t-shirt. He will talk all evening if you want him to. Tommy Lyons. And why not? Nine months ago, he took over a Dublin team who had no spine, who would always falter. He brought his small bundle of kenetic enthusiasm and infectious love for the game and planned re-constructive surgery on a talented bunch of footballers who, it seemed, just couldn’t win. He took on the hardest job in football and in less than a year, made them champions again. There is no great secret. Hard work, dedication, unwavering belief.
“This team never stopped believing, even when they lost that goal,” Lyons said. “It was a bad goal to give away, but the way they came back. It was awesome.
“The two goals probably won it for us in the end, but I thought the way the two young players took the goals. Ray Cosgrove had good and bad moments, he wasn’t going well with frees, but the cheekiness of his finish and Alan Brogan’s goal was just electric.
“And that is great to see in young players, a little swagger and a little cheekiness. Alan was going through a bit of a crisis in confidence before the goal, but the way he took it was just awesome. And it was a fitting way to win a wonderful game like this.”
Brogan’s goal illustrates the confidence Lyons has unearthed from somewhere in the metropolis. Having a hard time with the tenacity of Kildare’s full-back line, Brogan gathered a long pass out of the Dublin defence, sold one defender a dummy, burrowed his way through another challenge, capping the move with the sweetest of finishes. So, self-confidence was a low commodity with footballers representing the capital.
In one lovely move, Brogan answered such criticism. How difficult was this transformation? Well, think of all the nasty habits of this Dublin team, leaving behind games they should have won, falling at the final hurdle whether they deserved to or not.
“Well, we set our stall out at the start of the year. Two Leinster titles, an Under-21 and a senior and we had five or six Under-21s playing out there, so that shows how success can breed success. And now, lads, who knows where this can lead because when you have young players playing with confidence, anything can happen.”
Ciaran Whelan, a man who has had his fair share of bad Leinster final days and bore the brunt from the mass of critics that follow Dublin around like cheap cologne, had one of the afternoons he has been threatening to have for an age.
Four Leinster finals and no silverware, he can now afford to seem mystified at the memory. “It’s been seven long years,” he sighs. And what’s the difference with this team. “We never dropped our heads. When Kildare got their goal, we didn’t revert back to old habits, we never dropped our heads, we kept our composure. That’s the big difference with this team, this year.”
His manager is still holding court. He has turned players like Peader Andrews and Colin Moran into potential fulfilled, his passion, which has his heart racing and his voice speeding through the game consistently peppering his speech with unbelievable, conceals a shrewd footballing brain. One that knew goal-winning moments were in the youth of Cosgrove and Brogan. They just needed the platform to show it. Still, even in his moment of triumph, Lyons can see what’s wrong with the bigger picture. Take John McNally, three points and one of the quiet heroes of the day, but on Friday, John went into work to find out he was made redundant. Lyons has special words for him.
“Look, there was 78,000 people in Croke Park this afternoon, a gate of almost 2m and it’s time some of that was given back to the teams. Never mind this nonsense of end of year holidays, that’s the way to reward them.”
Peader Andrews, a player hit by more criticism that most, has a smile on him the size of the Croke Park pitch. “If you are going to win a Leinster title, that’s the way to do it, beat Meath and Kildare to win it. It was a great overall performance.”
Coman Goggins never dreamt of this moment during his summer in Strokestown. Captaining Leinster champions, and you never know where this will lead. “It’s just great that we didn’t fall at the final hurdle like we have done so often. And the sky’s the limit from here.”
And for once this summer, the sky was blue yesterday. And the streets of Dublin were blue last night. From Paddy Christie right through to Ray Cosgrove, the spine of this Dublin side now swaggers with confidence.
There are still flaws, Kildare’s two goals identified those concentration lapses which still exist. But, it is progress. And with the new dimensions to Croker, it is definitely suiting the stylish brand of football Dublin play, making football an altogether more attractive game. It is some sort of paradise after such barren times.
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