Another tough test for Dublin

28 Jul 2010

Dublin face Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter-final, two years on from a thorough beating by Tyrone and a year on from a 17 point loss to Kerry at the quarter-final stage. Christy O’Connor looks at the changes in the Dublin team over the last twelve months.

Exactly a year ago, Dublin went into the All-Ireland quarter-final against Kerry as hot favourites. They had powered their way through Leinster once more to win a fifth provincial title in a row, while Kerry had stumbled and staggered and Dublin looked primed to land the knockout punch. Yet Dublin lost by 17 points.

What it demanded of Dublin was a serious, ideological re-evaluation. They couldn't carry on being the team who played the prettiest football but who ultimately ended up getting hammered at the business end of the season. Some players remembers talking to manager Pat Gilroy on the evening of that Kerry game and in the days that followed and it was obvious that Gilroy had instantly computed the damage and was forming a response. Fundamental change was coming down the track.

Gilroy gutted the panel and when Dublin began the National League, it was clear that defence had become their priority. In some games they funneled a dozen players behind the ball at times and tried to play on the counter-attack. The management claimed that the purpose of the league was to make small alterations to the style of play. It wasn't about being more defensive, it was about being more adaptable to various situations. That's how the top teams like Kerry and Tyrone operated.

Their emphasis on the league this year was multipurpose. They had only a 35% win rate on the road during their five previous seasons in the league and they targeted that area to build confidence. They hadn't beaten Kerry away from home since 1982 and Mayo since 1992 and they won on both occasions. When they travelled to Omagh in the last round of matches, Tyrone needed a win to avoid relegation, Dublin had lost their previous two games but they produced their best performance of the spring.

Thirty-seven different players were given game time in the league and the upshot was a championship team with five debutants for their opening game against Wexford. Dublin were incredibly fit for the league. At the beginning of the year their training schedule involved double sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays: 6.30am and 7.30pm. For the game they aimed to roll out in the spring they needed that fuel in their legs. But then Wexford came to Croke Park and really tested Dublin and their new system. They looked all over the place and Wexford had them for the taking ten minutes into the second half. Dublin supporters were leaving in their hundreds but the team dragged themselves back into the game and eventually won.

Then in their next game, Meath nailed them for five goals and their new defensive system looked a busted flush. Dublin appeared to be going nowhere fast but they’re regrouped, have fine tuned their system, found some new players, recharged the batteries of some older heads, and are now back in an All-Ireland quarter-final. This time they square up to Tyrone, the team which wiped them out at the same stage two years ago.

To win a championship is an evolving process and nobody has shown that more than Kerry and Tyrone over the years. More often than not, those teams which won the All-Ireland were vastly different to the side’s which started the summer. A year on from successive hammerings in All-Ireland quarter-finals, this will really show how far Dublin have come.

If you are enjoying the 2010 Championship please take a moment to make a carbon saving pledge and play your part in making Croke Park carbon neutral.

Christy O'Connor has worked in the national newspaper industry for over ten years and now writes primarily for the Irish edition of The Sunday Times. A former member of the Clare senior hurling panel, he is the author of the critically acclaimed hurling book 'Last Man Standing'. He has also written 'The GAA Quiz Book 1' and the 'The GAA Quiz Book 2'.

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