Tough day at the office but Shefflin"will not panic yet"
Galway manager Henry Shefflin during the Walsh Cup Group A match between Dublin and Galway at Parnell Park.
These sorts of days, when everything goes wrong for your team and you lose by 19 points, were few and far between for Henry Shefflin the player. He didn't experience many while managing his native Ballyhale Shamrocks or Thomastown either and when the Galway manager spoke to media outside the dressing-rooms at Parnell Park, an interested crowd of supporters gathered to hear how he might explain it all away.
"It was a very disappointing day but to be fair we're doing a lot of chopping and changing," said Shefflin, looking visibly distraught after what amounted to a 70-minute pummelling.
"I think there were seven or eight changes from last week so it's hard to get that pattern of play that Dublin definitely have at the moment. Dublin were definitely further down the road and it is concerning because we're trying to find players and stuff like that. Look, it's about learning and growing and taking these defeats and we will not panic yet."
Perhaps sensing the opportunity to lay down an early season marker, Dublin manager Mattie Kenny made three changes to his published lineup, starting new captain Eoghan O'Donnell, former captain Chris Crummey and talisman forward Donal Burke.
They were the three best players on the pitch with O'Donnell locking down a solid Dublin defence, Crummey popping up with 1-2 despite operating largely as a defensive midfielder and free-taker Burke helping himself to 0-18.
By the time Shefflin made his first change, bringing on Padraic Mannion in the 30th minute in an attempt to get to grips with Burke, the damage had already been done as Galway trailed 0-5 to 1-14.
Dublin carve out no less than six decent goal chances in the first-half, Rian McBride in acres of space at times and capitalising for a 20th minute major when he improvised with a clever batted finish.
In truth, Dublin's 1-16 to 0-8 lead flattered Galway and it was no surprise that two more goals followed for the hosts, from brothers Chris and Paul Crummey. Cathal Mannion came on at half-time and was Galway's best player, sniping three points, though a comeback was never on the cards.
