Gilroy gives youth a chance
The side that faced Meath in the Leinster quarter-final showed seven changes from the starting 15 which had suffered such a calamitous defeat against Tyrone in the previous year’s All-Ireland semi-final.
It was a side peppered with unfamiliar faces, whether they were rookies or men with next to no championship exposure, and Gilroy was at it again yesterday, parachuting in a novice for Sunday’s clash with Westmeath.
It is barely over six months since Rory O’Carroll made his first senior appearance for his club but the 19-year-old will complete a meteoric rise to the top when he lines out at left-corner back for his county this weekend.
The Kilmacud Crokes defender, who replaces Alan Hubbard in the full-back line, is one of three changes.
The cruciate knee damage that Mark Davoren suffered in the quarter-final against Meath has allowed Jason Sherlock return to the first 15 while Dermot Connolly’s return from injury sees him replace Paddy Andrews at left-half forward.
Sherlock’s nomination, after a spring where he hardly featured under Gilroy, will be warmly welcomed by his adoring public in the capital but it is O’Carroll’s elevation that really catches the eye.
His bow with the Crokes seniors came last December when he replaced Conor Lambe after 23 minutes of the Leinster club final when, along with older brother Ross, he helped shore up a leaking defence and push on for the win.
Only the Kilmacud’s run through to the All-Ireland title and subsequent duties with the Dublin U21s, who made it as far as the All-Ireland semi-final, have delayed his introduction onto the biggest of stages.
“Rory has played in an All-Ireland club final,” said Gilroy when quizzed on the wisdom of chucking such a greenhorn onto a stage so big. “He has played in an All-Ireland U21 semi-final, he has played even U21 hurling with Dublin and his capacity to deal with those big game situations was very good.
“In all of those games he showed a great temperament so I wouldn’t have any fears about Rory and temperament. It is obviously a big step up going into inter-county football but some of the guys he is marking out here in training are top players and he has coped very well.”
Some would argue that Gilroy is afforded ample room in which to experiment in a province whish has been underwhelming ever since the closure of the brief window in which Laois and Westmeath made their breakthroughs.
The last time Dublin met Westmeath was in the league in Parnell Park in late April when the home side salvaged their place in Division One with a toe-curling 27-point win against a side that had already slipped through the trap door.
“We have to face reality,” said Gilroy. “The last team that beat us in Leinster was Westmeath (in 2004) and a lot of the guys who are playing on Sunday played in that game. That still sticks in the memory.”
It is just 12 months since their last meeting in the championship. Dublin edged that by just two points but Westmeath’s league form and opening game of summer against Wicklow are indicative of a team in decline.
Westmeath don’t score much and their once-vaunted defence has been alarmingly porous, something which should allow the Dubs iron out the kinks which saw them kick 17 wides against Meath.
“We want to get those scores,” said Gilroy. “It is something that we have to improve on because you can’t just flick a switch and start to do that. We need to start improving on that quickly. There are only five or six games in this competition and you need to be making progress in each. We’ll be very disappointed if we don’t make progress with our shooting the next day.”
DUBLIN SFC (v Westmeath): S Cluxton; D Henry, D Bastick, R O’Carroll; P Griffin, G Brennan, B Cahill; R McConnell, D Magee; P Flynn, A Brogan, D Connolly; C Keaney, B Brogan, J Sherlock.
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