Sudden impact: Dublin manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin salutes bench boost of Hetherton and Hayes

Dublin's efficiency in Salthill was a manager’s dream. Three wides and two point attempts short across 70-plus minutes. Their opponents, for contrast, finished with 17 wides.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Galway's Ronan Glennon under pressure from Dublin duo John Hetherton and Fergal Whitely in Saturday's Leinster SHC Rd 4 clash in Pearse Stadium. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

The praise of Dublin manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin went to his two bench pillars.

Introduced on 51 and 55 minutes respectively, the only two Dublin subs to see action, John Hetherton and Ronan Hayes, delivered game-turning impact. Hayes finished with 1-2. He also assisted Brian Hayes’ injury-time winning goal. Hetherton assisted 1-1. He terrorised Cillian Trayers and Daithí Burke under the high ball.

The route one approach into the bench pair was a roaring success. They held main actor roles in the unanswered 1-3 that flung the visitors from four adrift to two in front on 63 minutes.

“Ronan and Hedgo made a huge impact when they came in. It's funny, isn't it? The direct route is where we got our joy in the big moments,” said the Dublin manager. “I think for any team, like we're trying to, you have to be able to do both. You have to be able to stretch teams in different ways.

“We can talk about route one, but when we went route one early, like off our puck-outs, in the half-back line, they were actually physically dominant and aerially dominant there, and we struggled off that at times.

“So I suppose the key is to go route one, as we call it, and to create the scenarios in order to do that, and do it in a way that you're bringing other threats, so that you can actually impact when you do go route one.

“I think what did happen there in the last 15, 20 minutes is that physically, both Ronan and Hedgo, they were impacting the thing in a different way. That back line, and any back line at this level, it can cope with that sort of a thing, but when you do something a little bit different for that last 15, 20, it broke our way a couple of times, and full credit to our lads.

“It's great that we're through. No matter what now, we're in the All-Ireland quarter-final.” 

Dublin's efficiency was a manager’s dream. Three wides and two point attempts short across 70-plus minutes. Their opponents, for contrast, finished with 17 wides.

“I wasn't even aware it was that stark. That's probably the winning of the game right there. There's no point in saying otherwise. It absolutely is.

“Galway will obviously not be happy with that. I give huge levels of credit to our lads there, in regard to the intensity and our work-rate.” 

Their hosts were Leinster’s green flag leaders arriving into Saturday’s Round 4 schedule. Their goal count is still at nine. They didn’t engineer a single goal opportunity at Pearse Stadium.

“There's been a lot said about this back six, and our back line over the last few weeks, I can tell you, so I'm very, very proud of that. It was man-on-man there. The character of our lads, lads who've been maligned in the last few weeks there, they showed up. I thought we won our one-on-one battles,” Ó Ceallacháin continued.

Eoghan O’Donnell, named to start, didn’t tog because of an ankle injury.

For Galway manager Micheál Donoghue, the focus was more on the first half rather than the endgame where they were caught so dramatically. He knows it was his own team’s 12 first half wides where the damage was done.

Three ahead at half-time, they had utterly failed to capitalise on the familiar Salthill gale.

“Our efficiency was really, really poor. With the conditions out there, we hadn't enough of a lead built up at half-time. In equal measure, you have to give huge credit to Dublin. They came with a gameplan, they stuck to it well, and they hurled really well in the second half,” Donoghue reflected.

“We started the second-half well, got some good scores in that middle section, and obviously the goals came at the right time for them. When those opportunities presented themselves, the goals were killer.” Ahead of Galway’s Round 5 trip to Wexford Park next Sunday, the Galway U20s, for whom Jason Rabbitte and Aaron Niland are central figures, have a Leinster final against Kilkenny on Wednesday.

Niland did not play in last Wednesday’s U20 semi-final victory, while Rabbitte was used off the bench. And given a point is now needed in the south-east next Sunday in order to reach the Leinster SHC final, the pair's involvement in the U20 final is in doubt, especially Niland who departed the defeat to Dublin with an ankle injury four minutes into the second-half.

“It is too early yet,” replied the Galway manager when asked if the pair would play in the midweek U20 decider.

“The fixture congestion is tough on the lads, so we have to assess them tomorrow and see how they are.”