Hungry Daly has taste for more success with Dubs

Having last year won their first senior hurling national title of any description since 1939, Dublin open this year’s league campaign against Galway in Pearse Stadium on Sunday next in the unfamiliar role of defending champions.

They’ll be doing their best to retain that title, of course, but manager Anthony Daly says the ambition now must be to drive on to even greater things. “A step further would be winning Leinster or making an All-Ireland final, it would be lovely to think we could get to that stage,” said Daly. “The (Leinster championship) draw has us up against the winners of Laois and Carlow. If you’re lucky to get over that, it’s Kilkenny in Portlaoise — no-one will be giving us any chance in that. I’d like to think our lads are ambitious; they got a taste and they’d like to drive on and win something bigger and better.”

It’s a tough opener for the champions but then again every game in the league this year is going to be a big one. Only six teams in the division, the top three of those to qualify for the semi-finals, the bottom two in a relegation play-off — cutthroat? That’s one way of putting, says Daly.