Dublin on a journey of self-discovery

IAN O'RIORDANtalks to the former manager Tommy Lyons about the pros and cons of the back-door system for Dublin

FRONT DOOR or back door? Straight path or scenic route? Extra confidence from winning or added purpose from losing? In Croke Park or On The Road? Does it really make any difference?

When it comes to Dublin football, and chances of reaching an All-Ireland final, the evidence clearly suggests it doesn’t.

Since 2001, the year the football qualifiers were introduced, Dublin have gone six times through the front door, and four times through the back, including this year, when for the first time since 2004, they face into a qualifying match as a beaten provincial team.

During that period they’ve played 49 championship matches, winning 23 in Leinster, but winning only nine outside Leinster (they’ve lost 13 in total; and also drawn four). The fact is Dublin boast a fairly impeccable record in Leinster since 2001. But take them out of that comfort zone, and things get a little trickier. That’s the challenge, and the worry, facing Pat Gilroy and his team this evening. Being drawn against Tipperary, back in Croke Park, will have eased the worries, and yet if and when Dublin face stronger opposition there would appear to be plenty to worry about.

A few weeks back, when facing into their championship opener against Wexford, Gilroy had expressed relative indifference to the prospect of recording a sixth provincial title on the spin, one of the assumptions being Dublin had greater ambitions for 2010.

Given their near escape that day, and the ripping apart by Meath, the prospect of winning a sixth successive Leinster title would surely now be something Dublin would dearly wish for.

Anyway, the question here is not so much where it all went wrong in Leinster, but how quickly – and to what extent – they can address their problems in the qualifiers.

Few of the panel have been down the back-door route before, and of the team that played in the last qualifier, against Roscommon in August 2004, only two survive: Stephen Cluxton and Alan Brogan.

Tommy Lyons, the Dublin manager that day, had already taken Dublin through both doors; winning the Leinster title in 2002, and losing the 2003 Leinster semi-final to Laois. Lyons has a simple theory on how the qualifiers work: there are pros, and cons, for certain – but ultimately they’ll suit the stronger teams, and for everybody else, they’re about having a strong frame of mind, and hoping the strongest won’t always survive.

“For a team like Kerry, or Tyrone, there are definitely more pros than cons,” says Lyons. “It doesn’t really matter to them how they get to an All-Ireland quarter-final. They’re proven winners, having won the last seven All-Irelands between them. So it doesn’t matter, really.

“It’s different for teams that are trying to make the breakthrough. First of all, they need to know their team very well, know where they stand. It shouldn’t really matter for those either. But if a team goes into the qualifiers not really knowing where they stand then that can be a struggle. Like what happened to Mayo already. But for a team trying to make the breakthrough, winning the provincial title, and the confidence that comes with that, is still the best route, and in fact far outweighs the risk of going through the qualifiers.”

In 2003, having surrendered their Leinster title in the provincial semi-final to eventual champions Laois, Dublin were handed a tough draw in the qualifiers; Derry – away: “When we beat Derry that day, up in Clones, I felt that gave the team a big boost,” says Lyons. “Then we played Armagh, back in Croke Park, and you know, the famous day, when we went in at half-time four points up, and lost by four (Cluxton’s red card proving a turning point). But really, I don’t think the qualifiers effected the Dublin too much that year.”

In 2004 Dublin were back on the road, this time after losing the Leinster quarter-final, also to the eventual champions, Westmeath. They were drawn against London, Leitrim and Longford, and beat them all comfortably, finishing off with a somewhat closer win over Roscommon in the fourth round.

So Dublin were back in an All-Ireland quarter-final, in Croke Park, apparently in a strong frame of mind, against a Kerry team that hadn’t played in almost a month, and had struggled to beat Limerick in their provincial final, after a replay. “Going on the road that year, I felt too, was a good thing for us,” says Lyons. “Again, we lost to Kerry, by seven points in the end. But I felt if we’d taken more of the chances we created that day I think we might have come a lot closer.”

Kerry manager Jack O’Connor has confessed to learning more from defeats, particularly last year, when they lost to Cork in Munster and went on to win the All-Ireland, and Tyrone manager Mickey Harte has expressed likewise. Lyons is not so sure.

“I still believe you learn more from winning than losing.”

Still, there are those who believe Dublin needed to lose in Leinster, needed to get out of Croke Park, to discover more about themselves, including Prof Niall Moyna, of Dublin City University – who said, before losing to Meath, that it wouldn’t do Dublin any harm at all. “I said this to Pat Gilroy, that I would have no problem if they lost. I felt this Dublin team needed to get out of Croke Park, lose a game, and learn how to win dirty, ugly games down the country. If you can’t win those you’ve no business being in Croke Park in September.”

There will always be uncertainty going into the qualifiers: “There’s no golden rule on this,” agrees Lyons. “But if you’re in top three or four teams it doesn’t really matter. For the next six or seven teams, winning the provincial championship is still the best route.

“Take a team like Sligo. They’ve now beaten Mayo, and Galway, and are favourites to win a Connacht title. If they do, are they going to arrive in Croke Park for a quarter-final a better team having gone that way, or having gone the back door route? I would suggest they’ll be better having gone the front door route. For some of the other teams, outside the top 11 or 12, a good run in the qualifiers can bring them to Croke Park, for a quarter-final, with a lot of confidence.”

As it turns out Dublin are back in Croke Park, although at least against novel opposition. They haven’t played Tipperary in the championship since the 1920 All-Ireland final (which was actually played in June 1922), and which Tipperary won by 1-6 to 1-2. (In Croke Park, by the way.)

“I think it would have been better for Dublin to be on the road,” says Lyons. “Having said that, Tipperary won’t be any pushover. I don’t think Dublin are in a great space, mentally. So it’s a good draw for them to be in Croke Park. But look, the problem for Dublin is not that they keep winning Leinster titles. It’s what happens after that. When they’ve come to the quarter-finals, to play Kerry or Tyrone, they weren’t good enough. And it’s been that way for the last 10 years . . . And remember as well that every time they beat Dublin they went on to win the All-Ireland.

“But back door, or front door, win Leinster or lose Leinster, they haven’t been good enough. You can’t let these facts fool anyone.”

Dublin Front Door v Back Door

2001 – Leinster:Beat Longford, Offaly; lost final to Meath.

Qualifiers:Beat Sligo, drew with Kerry, lost replay.

2002 – Leinster:Beat Wexford, Meath and Kildare to win title.

All-Ireland quarter-final:Drew with Donegal, won replay. Semi-final:Lost to Armagh.

2003 – Leinster:Beat Louth; lost semi-final to Laois. Qualifiers:Beat Derry, lost to Armagh.

2004 – Leinster:Lost quarter-final to Westmeath.

Qualifiers:Beat London, Leitrim, Longford, Roscommon. Lost quarter-final to Kerry.

2005 – Leinster:Beat Longford, Meath, Wexford and Laois to win title. All-Ireland quarter-final:Drew with Tyrone, lost replay.

2006 – Leinster:Beat Longford, Laois and Offaly to win title.

All-Ireland quarter-final:Beat Westmeath. Semi-final:Lost to Mayo.

2007 – Leinster:Drew with Meath, won replay; beat Offaly and Laois to win title. All-Ireland quarter-final:Beat Derry. Semi-final:Lost to Kerry.

2008 – Leinster:Beat Louth, Westmeath and Wexford to win title. All-Ireland quarter-final:Lost to Tyrone.

2009 – Leinster:Beat Meath, Westmeath and Kildare to win title. All-Ireland quarter-final:Lost to Kerry.

2010 – Leinster:Beat Wexford, lost semi-final to Meath.

Qualifiers:(v Tipperary, today)