Maguire blames pitch for poor quality of hurling

Dublin goalkeeper Gary Maguire has expressed annoyance at the condition of the Parnell Park pitch last weekend.

Anthony Daly’s side secured a Leinster SHC semi-final with Kilkenny following an unconvincing win over Wexford in Saturday night’s replay in the capital.

However the standard of hurling wasn’t helped by the poor conditions.

Maguire said: “I think there were a few horses let out on it last week! It wouldn’t be the Mae West compared to Wexford Park which was like a carpet (in the drawn game).

“We’re obviously still playing second-fiddle to the footballers — a decent pitch wouldn’t go astray.”

Meanwhile Maguire has vowed his side will ‘throw everything we have’ at Brian Cody’s men in Sunday’s Leinster SHC semi-final in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise.

Their weekend performance, and the manner in which Kilkenny swatted Dublin aside in last year’s championship, leaves Maguire under no illusion about the challenge this weekend.

“ We’ll have to get working. It could be a bit of mental toughness — we need to get the bit between our teeth. Kilkenny were probably in second gear against Offaly who threw everything at them.

“We were just concentrating on the Wexford game but it moves on to Kilkenny and we know all about Kilkenny. Last year we built ourselves up and Kilkenny built us up.

“We geared towards it a bit too much (lost heavily). This year it’s more one game at a time.

“But there’s no doubt we want to be playing against the best and Kilkenny have been the benchmark, and still are. We’ll throw everything we have at them and see how good we are.

“It’s a massive test. I’d say everyone is looking forward to it. As a player, you want to be seen in a positive way but we let ourselves down (last year). We’ll give it a right lash.”