Dublin beat the buzzer, change the conversation

Dublin's defeat to Meath in the Leinster semi-final said more about their attitude on the day than their ability.

Dublin's Theo Clancy holds off Matthew Thompson of Galway in Saturday's thrilling All-Ireland SFC Rd 1 game at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

All-Ireland SFC group stages: Galway 2-2-10 (20) Dublin 1-0-18 (21)

They knew. For Dublin, this was a statement victory over Galway in their opening All-Ireland round-robin fixture. Throughout, they were astute and vengeful. It was always going to be this way.

Man of the match Ciarán Kilkenny was aware of what was on the line in Pearse Stadium. He responded with one of the greatest performances of his career. When it was put to him post-match that they had been written off after the recent defeat against Meath, he nodded knowingly.

“Yeah. For me, it was the character and resilience we showed when Galway got a goal. They got a goal and could easily have pushed on there. But the lads kept showing for the ball, they kept breaking the line, kept wanting the ball and stepped up at the end of the game.

“To get a contest like that, to stand up like that, will stand to us. What we have to do now is enjoy the sun, recover, do the ice baths and then we have Armagh in two weeks.”

Dublin deservedly led 1-9 to 0-8 at half-time, the goal coming from a Cormac Costello break, but were hit by two body blows in the second half. A searching long delivery from Cillian McDaid was coolly finished by Matthew Thompson. Stephen Cluxton was beaten again by another dropping McDaid ball, Robert Finnerty eventually finding the net.

None of it fazed them. This is a talented group, that should have been blindingly obvious to any onlookers. What happened against Meath said more about their attitude on the day than their ability.

“Look, people talk about Dublin being beat and out of it, they've seven or eight of the best footballers in the country you've ever seen,” said Pádraic Joyce.

“We knew that. People are doing podcasts and all sorts of stuff, unfortunately, some mud on the walls will stick sometimes. But we knew internally ourselves it was going to be a huge battle, we said it to the lads before the game.” 

That is the distinction. Despite some suggestions that they were no longer genuine All-Ireland contenders, everyone inside the lines knew different. The gap between the best team in the country and the chasers is in no way considerable. The substance is the stuff beyond the headlines. Dessie Farrell declared afterwards that this is the fundamental nature of elite sport. Unless you’re in the middle of their everything, no one really knows anything.

When Dublin had to dig deep, they knew they had it in reserve. Stephen Cluxton’s final kickout to Tom Lahiff was terrific. The midfielder started and ended a move riddled with ironclad composure. Then you remember he replaced captain Con O’Callaghan early in the second half. Lee Gannon, Eoin Murchan, Paddy and John Small were all missing as well. Pay heed to what Kilkenny said about how it will stand to them. They were good. They can get better.

None of this is to say the question marks existed in Galway’s mind. The Connacht champions saw what was coming down the tracks.

“The boys know internally,” said Joyce. “They've played against them several times, numerous times. We've only beaten Dublin last year by a point ourselves, they're not going away. We know they're a serious team. We're not fools.” 

Galway ran into trouble on their own kickout and conversion. Shane Walsh scored one two-pointer and missed another three attempts. Footballer of the Year Paul Conroy failed to impact the tie. They fought back impressively to draw level with a Matthew Tierney point, after a gorgeous kick by John Daly, yet squandered several attacking opportunities during that last quarter.

Much of it was similar to their recent showing against Mayo. Like Dublin, Joyce and his crew know where they are at. They know what they need to do. Derry await.

“Things aren't going so well for them but nothing like a bit of adversity to put that together and get ready for a big home game,” said Joyce.

“I'm sure they'll have a big crowd there as well for us coming and a lot will depend on the result next week how they'll approach that game in two weeks' time. It's going to be a belter again for us at 2pm on Sunday week. We'll be ready for it.” 

Scorers for Galway: R. Finnerty 1-6 (1 tp, 1f); M. Thompson 1-1; M. Tierney 0-2; S. Walsh 0-2 (tp); C. McDaid, J. Maher, J. McGrath 0-1 each.

Scorers for Dublin: C. Costello 1-3 (2f); S. Bugler, C. O’Callaghan, L. O’Dell 0-3 each; K. McGinnis, C. Kilkenny 0-2 each; B. O’Leary, T. Lahiff 0-1 each.

GALWAY: C. Gleeson; J. McGrath, L. Silke, S. Mulkerrin; D. McHugh, S. Kelly, C. Hernon; P. Conroy, J. Maher; C. D’Arcy, S. Walsh, C. McDaid; M. Tierney, R. Finnerty, M. Thompson.

Subs: P. Cooke for Thompson (41-53, temp), K. Molloy for Conroy (53), P. Cooke for Seán Kelly (53-60, temp), D. O'Flaherty for Hernon (55), P. Cooke for Shane Walsh (60), T. Culhane for D'Arcy (65), J. Daly for Silke (67).

DUBLIN: S. Cluxton; D. Byrne, T. Clancy, S. MacMahon; S. Bugler, A. Gavin, B. Howard; P. Ó Cofaigh Byrne, C. Kilkenny; C. Basquel, L. O’Dell, K. McGinnis; C. Costello, C. O’Callaghan, B. O’Leary.

Subs: T. Lahiff for O'Callaghan (45-inj), N. Scully for O'Leary (50), C. Murphy for Clancy (53-55, temp), C. Murphy for Gavin (55), G. McEnaney for McGinnis (60), L. Breathnach for Bugler (62).

Referee: D. Gough (Meath).