GAA: ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION ONE: Dublin 1-17 Kilkenny 3-11THE POINT earned is probably not going to be enough to secure Dublin's first hurling league final appearance since 1946, but manager Anthony Daly was far from despondent at Croke Park on Saturday night.
Dublin have racked up impressive results already in 2011 but this is the prize feather in their cap. In a pulsating game of quality hurling that defied a freak hailstone storm, Dublin survived a frantic finish to prove they are capable of sustaining this early-season form.
Teams who shoot 17 wides against Kilkenny at Croke Park and are torn apart for three goals don’t normally leave with a smile on their faces. But it was a testament to Dublin they could endure such hardship and were still full value for the draw which came from a Paul Ryan point in the fourth minute of injury-time after they had held Kilkenny scoreless for the last 16 minutes.
“Belief is a huge thing, and I’d have grown up with that – the DNA,”said Dublin manager Anthony Daly afterwards. “When you went out playing with St Flannan’s you expected to win, when you played for the Clare minors, you didn’t expect to win, deep down inside you. It’s a bit the same here, we’re trying to change that and that’s not done easily. But little nights like this where you can battle back and finish strong against Kilkenny, that’s where you learn we’re not three miles off the thing. If you can believe in yourself enough you can get something from these types of games.
“Obviously, championship will be a step up from this again and I think we have the type of athlete who can step up, but time will tell.”
Kilkenny were without frontline performers such as Henry Shefflin, Tommy Walsh, JJ Delaney, Richie Power and Jackie Tyrell, but Brian Cody wasn’t hiding behind this statistic. “The panel is being tested to the full but that’s what we like to see happening. There’s no point talking of injuries, once the game is on and the team is picked you have no injuries then, you have 15 players on the field. I wasn’t even thinking about injuries coming into the game – they lost a few big players as well.
“When it’s game on it’s 15 against 15, and if you’re out there you have to be good enough to do the job. I’ve been talking about how good Dublin are for the last few years. They are as tough an opposition as anyone else right now,” he stated.
In the opening exchanges Kilkenny were second best – but Dublin’s finishing problems continued as they shot eight wides in the first 20 minutes and spurned great goal chances through Ryan and David O’Callaghan. With Tomás Brady inspiring them at centre back and Conal Keaney, Ryan O’Dwyer and Ryan looking dangerous up front, Dublin continued to ask questions of Kilkenny. But at half-time it looked as if Dublin were destined to be taught another cruel lesson after a well-worked goal from Matthew Ruth and a trademark Eddie Brennan strike left Kilkenny only 1-12 to 2-7 behind.
Kilkenny were a different team when they moved Michael Fennelly from half forward into midfield in a switch with Eoin Larkin and later introduced TJ Reid and cranked up the intensity level. They had nine men on who played in last year’s All-Ireland final and when Matthew Ruth again showed predatory instincts in the 58th minute to goal on the rebound after great work from Colin Fennelly, it looked over for Dublin.
Trailing by three points, Dublin tried in vain to work the ball forward in search of a goal that a disciplined and experienced Kilkenny defence wasn’t entertaining. In a frantic finish the respective managers became involved in a heated exchange over a disputed free. They laughed it off afterwards.
In times past Dublin would have settled for a moral victory but they regained their composure to cut the gap and could afford to shoot three wides before man-of-the-match Ryan landed the equaliser in the 74th minute.
This point edges Kilkenny closer to a place in the final. “I’m not surprised, that’s the target, that’s the ambition,” Cody said. “At all times we have to have an absolutely phenomenal ambition we’re going to be in this position – why shouldn’t we? This is where we want to be, and for as long as I’ve been in this position I’ve said we’d love to win the league, and we’d love to win it again.”
DUBLIN: G Maguire; N Corcoran, P Kelly, O Gough; R Walsh, T Brady, S Durkin (0-1); J McCaffrey (0-1), S Lambert; C Keaney (0-5, 0-3 frees, 0-1 65), R O'Dwyer (0-2), L Rushe (0-2); D Plunkett (0-1), D O'Callaghan, P Ryan (1-5, 0-1 free, 0-1 65). Subs: S Ryan for Lambert (47 mins), P Schutte for Gough (58 mins), P Carton for Plunkett (66 mins).
KILKENNY: D Herity; M Kavanagh, N Hickey, J Dalton; P Hogan, B Hogan, C Fogarty; P Murphy, E Larkin; R Hogan (0-5, 0-3 frees), M Fennelly (0-2), C Fennelly; M Ruth (2-1), E Brennan (1-2), A Fogarty (0-1). Subs: TJ Reid for P Murphy (42 mins), J Mulhall for Fogarty (51 mins), PJ Delaney for Fogarty (55 mins).
Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath).
