Daly will let dust settle before deciding on future

Anthony Daly will be taking plenty of time before making a decision on his future as Dublin manager.

The Clarecastle man’s fifth season with the county finished yesterday and after bringing a Leinster title to the capital, board chairman Andy Kettle and secretary John Costello, will be keen to see him remain on.

“We’ll go away and talk about it. This is never the time to make a decision. Let’s see the way things are in the next few weeks.”

Right now, the end to Dublin’s journey is a raw feeling but Daly anticipates that will change when the dust settles.

“We feel disappointed and heavy-hearted at times like this but maybe in a few weeks we’ll be able to look back on it with a bit of satisfaction.”

Daly bristled a little at the idea Dublin had missed the boat this year with Kilkenny, Tipperary and Galway gone before the semi-final stages.

“Sure, who are the big guns? I feel we’re the big guns at this stage. But any time that you get to the semi-final and are a point down, in the 66th minute, you feel it’s a chance lost.”

Dublin’s second All-Ireland semi-final defeat in three years, Daly agreed yesterday was a more disappointing result than the defeat to Tipperary.

“That day we came in on the back of a good beating in the Leinster final and winning against Limerick. But I think we expected we might win today, were very hopeful we might get the result. So that day, wherever we were, we were still very proud of the boys. We lost by four that day, and today we lost by five. But I think there was real anticipation in the camp that we could drive and win an All-Ireland.”

Daly credited the quality of Anthony Nash’s puckouts and Cork’s ability to break through Dublin’s half-back line as crucial to the outcome.

“It worked for them to a certain extent but things worked for us as well. We targeted getting fast ball into our inside line and when we did the three boys had them in big trouble inside. We didn’t do enough, we took some mad shots, mad wides. But look it’s easy to talk from the sidelines and the press box. For the fellas inside in the heat of the battle it is hard going. You have an instant to make a decision.”

He argued his team performed as much as they lost. “I think we did get that big performance, and we’re very proud of the boys. It didn’t go everybody’s way, and that’s the story with every big game.

“Some lads have a great day. Like Liam (Rushe), again, what a game at centre-back. In fairness Cork tried everything, to the point of Cathal Naughton coming on for the final minutes, to run everywhere.”