Daly looks to make up for painful Leinster final flop to Kilkenny

Anthony Daly is hoping the bitter memories of Dublin’s systems failure against Kilkenny in the Leinster final will provide the spur for his side to come out on top against Tipperary in Sunday’s All-Ireland quarter-final in Thurles.

Brian Cody’s side were 12-point winners last month, even the 0-24 to 1-9 scoring failing to capture the true gap between the sides on a day that Dublin’s 12-month hold on the Bob O’Keeffe Cup was surrendered.

“We got together straight away (after the Kilkenny game) and had a chat,” Daly said on Dublin’s hill16.ie website. “From top to bottom we just didn’t perform. You can take the painful defeats but when you just don’tturn up — it’s desperate stuff in your head.

“When you play a game like we did in the Leinster final you feel nothing only really shame, that you let down your fans and your family and all that. All of us. I’m not saying players. I’m saying management, everybody, soul-searches. Where did we let it go wrong?’”

Dublin could hardly face a tougher task than a meeting with Tipperary in their Semple Stadium back yard as they attempt to turn their season around and claim a place in the last four for the third time in four years.

The flip side, of course, is that it is a challenge that could energise the team after the dispiriting loss of their provincial title, although Daly admits that even he cannot be sure as to how his side will fare at the weekend.

“For the first week, anyway, the two training sessions we did were just really purging ourselves and trying to get back on track. But, look, we played Limerick (in a challenge) Friday night and played fairly well, so in fairness to them now they’ve picked up the slack.

“Really, until you go out on Sunday four o’clock, you can’t really know where you are.”