Kelleher keeps faith despite ill fate to date

Gaelic Games News Round-upAfter four straight losses and the odd trouncing, the Dublin hurlers step into the den of the All-Ireland champions on Sunday, knowing Kilkenny need to win by something big to keep a hold on their National Hurling League title.

Dublin might be tempted to run and hide but manager Humphrey Kelleher hasn't lost heart. He has a plan for the future and he's sticking with it.

The defeat to Laois last Sunday, hot on the heels of defeats to Waterford, Clare and Galway, suggested the next Dublin victory might be a long time coming.

Yet Kelleher remains positive, even if his first four months in the job could easily have tried the patience of a saint.

"Just the other day a man walked into the bank here," says Kelleher, "and from the name on my desk recognised me as the Dublin manager. Straight away he starts asking when I'm going to get Dublin to win a game. And that I should pack it in.

"So I took him inside and explained exactly what I'm trying to do, and that Dublin will win matches when they know how to win. And he walked out telling me to stick with it. And we are all going to stick with it, because I'm definitely sticking with it."

It's a plan he knows will mean there will be some pain before the gain. The Laois game was one Dublin would normally hope to win, but instead they suffered a 14-point defeat. Kelleher reckons the hard work being done now won't truly pay off for another year or two. And part of his long-term plan will mean training as a panel right through the summer no matter what happens in the championship.

"In a way I feel the matches are getting in the way at the moment. But we can't go back to the situation where we would be lucky to win say one or two matches every league, which has been the case in Dublin for the past 40 years. Someone had to grasp the nettle and ask where we were really going.

"It's much more important for us to increase our performance in terms of consistency. So I'm not going to sacrifice that goal just to satisfy the people who want to see some results now, but have no idea what's really going on with Dublin hurling."

Kelleher also points out that if one examines the results closely, Dublin aren't doing a whole lot worse that the previous league season - the only big difference being the heavy loss to Waterford, a game they won last year. But he's not fooling himself either, and admits things could still be going a little better.

"One of the difficulties is trying to transfer what we do on the training pitch to the playing pitch. You can't expect to get two chances at picking up the ball at this level. It has to be the first time, all of the time. But when they've come under pressure in these matches and lose the confidence to do what they can on the training pitch then it's easy to fall back into the old faults.

"And there are good players in Dublin. I know what they're capable of because I've seen them do it. They're just not used to the intensity. And no one is getting down about it. The truth is we have to go backwards a little to go forward a lot.

"We will win matches but it just won't be today or tomorrow. But the players are fully behind this, and I'm constantly talking to other people about it. People like Diarmuid Healy and Michael O'Grady. And they just reinforce my view that this is they way to do it."

In football news, meanwhile, Westmeath manager Páidí Ó Sé will have to endure without the services of one his best forwards, Martin Flanagan, for the rest of the season.

Flanagan had been carrying an ankle injury since the start of the league and the prognosis after a visit to a specialist this week was not good.Surgery will now be required on damaged ligaments, ruling the player out of any football for several months.

Ó Sé didn't hide his frustration at the setback: "I'm very disappointed, no doubt about it. He will most certainly be out now for a considerable time and we will just have to get on with our plans for this season without him."

Without a league win from their six starts, Westmeath appear doomed to relegation, unless Longford lose in their refixed game against Fermanagh on Sunday, and lose again to Westmeath in the final round of games on Sunday week. But Westmeath continue to be under-strength, with the likes of David O'Shaughnessy and Aidan Canning still on the injury list.

Wicklow dual player Wayne O'Gorman will also see no further league action because of suspension, the result of his sending off against Carlow on February 22nd, although he will be clear to play in their opening football championship match against Meath on May 23rd.

DUBLIN (SH v Kilkenny): G Maguire; D Spain, S Perkins, S Daly; K Wilson, C Keaney, K Ryan; D Sweeney, C Meehan; D Curtin, R Fallon, A Glennon; T Moore, S Martin, L Ryan.

WATERFORD (SH v Clare): S Brenner; T Feeney, D Prendergast, J Murray; D O'Brien, T Browne, O Murphy; M Walsh, D Bennett; E McGrath, A Moloney, D Shanahan; S Ryan, P Flynn, J Mulane.

DUBLIN (Under-21 F v Wicklow): P Copeland; C Prenderville, M Fitzpatrick, P Griffin; N Cooper, B Cullen, B Lyons; J Coughlan, P Brennan; D Kelleher, D O'Mahoney, S Hiney; D O'Callaghan, G Cullen, J Noonan.

TYRONE (Under-21 F v Cavan): J Devine; M McStravog, K McCrory, D Carlin; P Quinn, J McMahon, C Mullan; P Donnelly, S Cavanagh; C McKenna, L Meenan, P Rafferty; M Donnelly, M Hughes, C Doris.