Dooley laments fall of the Faithfuls
One of the Offaly five on the team, and one of the two brothers (older sibling Joe is the other) is wing-forward Johnny Dooley, winner of two Leinster and – far more significantly – two All-Ireland titles.
Contacted yesterday, Johnny was surprised, but delighted, to have made the side: “Did I get on it? Well, that’s great! I wasn’t aware of it, it’s the first I heard of it.
“I thought I’d be pipped by Martin Storey for the number 10 position, I was sure he’d get it – I had him pencilled in for it. It’s a great honour for the family too, two of us picked.”
Next weekend the football team will be announced, and both teams will be honoured at a banquet in October.
Of more immediate interest to Johnny, however, were the performances of his own county, Offaly, in their loss to Cork in the All-Ireland qualifiers on Saturday evening in Tullamore (Offaly are managed by Joe), and Dublin on Sunday in Croke Park, in the Leinster final against Kilkenny.
First, Offaly, and their 13-point loss to Cork: “Very disappointing, all the injuries didn’t help but they fell away in the end when Cork stepped up a level. Mind you, Cork weren’t that impressive themselves, I think some of the older lads are starting to lose some pace, and they have a few weaknesses.
“A big plus for them is the new full-forward, Aisake O hAilpín, a big target man, something they’ve been missing for a few years. But we lost our way for a finish, fellas winning good ball in the half-forward line but doing silly things with it, that sort of thing.”
On a more positive note, however, there was Dublin’s performance against Kilkenny, a game in which it was feared that the Dubs would be overwhelmed by both the occasion – their first Leinster final in 18 years – and by the all-conquering Cats.
In the end, there was just two goals in it, 2-18 to 0-18, and Dublin won a lot of new admirers in defeat, including Johnny.
“Kilkenny were always in control, always in front, getting the scores that bit easier than Dublin and getting them when they needed them, but in fairness to Dublin they really put it up to them, even if you could never see them pushing on to win it.
At least they didn’t collapse, didn’t implode, stayed with them but just couldn’t get the goals that would have really put them into it.
“The thing about Kilkenny though, there’s always some lad who comes up trumps and yesterday it was Martin Comerford, took his goals brilliantly.
“I’d say Brian Cody is very happy, that’s a lot of pressure off them; he knows they’re not going to hammer every team, every day, but they’re in another All-Ireland semi-final, and got there reasonably comfortably in the end. Now they can sit back, wait for whoever comes through.”
And who is that likely to be? Could it be Dublin again? Perhaps, says Johnny, but they do still have a way to go: “At this stage you’d have to put them in second place in Leinster, leaving Galway out of it. I’ve seen them at underage in recent years, very impressive. Wexford have been struggling, lacking a few top-quality players, and I always felt Dublin would beat them in the semi-final. I still think though that Dublin are behind a few teams – I’d put Galway ahead of them, Tipperary, Cork and Waterford. At the moment they (Dublin) are probably in fifth or sixth place, but they have a lot to work with, and this was a big boost for them. A pity they didn’t win Sunday, it would have been a great boost for hurling. It’s the same few teams coming at the top all the time, Kilkenny, Cork, Tipperary, Waterford – all the fringe teams seem to have gone out of it. That’s not their fault, but it would be great to see a new team coming through to really challenge Kilkenny.”
Can he see that happening? Will Kilkenny be denied four-in-a-row?
“If Cork make the semi-final they will be difficult, two or three good wins under their belts. But the thing about Kilkenny is they can handle the long break, they can get themselves right regardless, and that’s down to Brian Cody.
“The last thing they needed was to have to go through the back door. It’s alright for a team that’s building, a team like Cork, or Dublin. Kilkenny aren’t building. but as Dublin showed yesterday, and Galway showed in the semi-final, and Tipperary showed in the league final – they are beatable.”
The Leinster TEAM 25: Damien Fitzhenry (Wexford), Michael Kavanagh (Kilkenny), Noel Hickey (Kilkenny), Martin Hanamy (Offaly), Brian Whelahan (Offaly), Liam Dunne (Wexford), JJ Delaney (Kilkenny), George O’Connor (Wexford), Joachim Kelly (Offaly), Johnny Dooley (Offaly), Henry Shefflin (Kilkenny), Tommy Walsh (Kilkenny), Eddie Brennan (Kilkenny), DJ Carey (Kilkenny), Joe Dooley (Offaly).
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