As well as the tension and edgy undercurrent throughout there was some scintillating football played.
People will probably again go on about Dublin bottling it but I don’t think they did. They played their hearts out and lost to a marginally better team. For once I agreed with Brolly in that Kerry’s extra quality was slightly too much for Dublin’s sheer will and commitment.
Some of the individual performances were incredible. I thought Cooper gave an absolute masterclass of football - class score taking, composure and awareness in possession. Declan O’Sullivan was sublime too.
For Dublin Whelan roared into the game when they went 6 points down and dragged them back into it. Shane Ryan never stopped and Alan Brogan had a superb battle with Marc O’Se that he probably just about shaded.
I think Caffrey might go and I wonder if this Dublin team will ever win that elusive title?
Yeah it was a cracking game alright. I’d tend to agree with you that Dublin didn’t bottle it. They fell behind and rallied and got themselves back in with a real shout. The result in the end came down to the difference in skill levels.
The last point that Kerry got when they were passing the ball about and O’Sullivan (I think) knocked it over illustrated the difference between the sides. If Dublin had attempted that the ball would have ended up with Ryan or Moran or Casey at some point and they might have fumbled it or got pressured into trying a silly hand pass because they can’t rely on kicking a pass if that’s what’s required. All the Kerry lads (with the exception of Scanlon) were far more comfortable in their use of possession.
It was a decent effort from Dublin though but I thought they were let down by the sideline again. At the start of the second half Kerry were pouring through from midfield and half back and creating free men all over the Dublin defence. Caffrey’s response was to introduce Cosgrave for Sherlock. Only after the game looked like it had gone from Dublin did he finally introduce Darren Magee but instead of having the guts to take off Ross McConnell (who did fine at full back but was out of his depth at midfield) he withdrew Bernard Brogan instead. So we persisted with the match-up of Donaghy v McConnell at midfield for the rest of the game which was ludicrous.
We had Ger Brennan on the sideline as well and Stephen O’Shaughnessy either of whom could have come on for Casey or someone to try and regain the initiative at half back. Every other county seems to make better use of their sideline and brave decisions were needed yesterday.
Individual performances from the Dublin lads were fine in general with Whelan being the pick of the bunch. People will complain (again) that he was anonymous for spells but when Dublin were down and looked defeated he produced a stunning spell to fight back.
The difference came down to the fact that the bog men are dirty smelly knackers. They should have been shot on sight coming across the Dublin border. I mean look at the state of this guy, inbred fook
There wont be a next year. There’s a conspiracy against Dublin by all the bog men to keep us from ever winning it. I think Dublin should have its own tounament and let everyone outside see how they get on without the boys in blue. Another thing, is there any rules to GAA anymore, as far as I can see all there is absolutley no consistency whatsoever with how games are managed by refs.
As Paul Curran said on The Sunday Game last night, Dublin have racked up enough scores in the last two All Ireland Semi Finals but their defence has let them down.
Yesterday Cooper gave Griffin a lesson and Sheehan got the better of Henry. That said both corner backs were game and there was nothing to lose from switching them or replacing one of them with O’Shaughnessy.
I thought Dublin struggled in the half back line too, with the notable exception of Barry Cahill who had a smashing season.
I really don’t know how Paul Casey has stayed in the side all year. He got beaten up badly in most games and did again yesterday. He started off on Galvin before being moved onto O’Sullivan after Galvin knocked over 2 early points. The only time he got close to O’Sullivan was when he goaded him after he missed the goal chance just before half time and then O’Sullivan destroyed him in the second half. Ger Brennan had a good league campaign and has been sat on the bench all championship.
It might be best for Pillar to go given he’s been successful in the province but has struggled to get them up to the next level.
As Paul Curran said on The Sunday Game last night, Dublin have racked up enough scores in the last two All Ireland Semi Finals but their defence has let them down.
Yesterday Cooper gave Griffin a lesson and Sheehan got the better of Henry. That said both corner backs were game and there was nothing to lose from switching them or replacing one of them with O’Shaughnessy.
I thought Dublin struggled in the half back line too, with the notable exception of Barry Cahill who had a smashing season.
I really don’t know how Paul Casey has stayed in the side all year. He got beaten up badly in most games and did again yesterday. He started off on Galvin before being moved onto O’Sullivan after Galvin knocked over 2 early points. The only time he got close to O’Sullivan was when he goaded him after he missed the goal chance just before half time and then O’Sullivan destroyed him in the second half. Ger Brennan had a good league campaign and has been sat on the bench all championship.
It might be best for Pillar to go given he’s been successful in the province but has struggled to get them up to the next level.
Agree with much of that Bandage but I don’t share Curran’s view of Dublin having good enough forwards because of the scores they racked up in the last two All Irelands. It’s two simplistic for me. Of the foward line only Brogan and Keaney (possibly the other Brogan as well - bit early to say) are up to the standard of the Kerry lads. Therefore they must put more effort into getting their scores
Well the problems against Kerry (and Derry if we’d been caught out) were clearly defensive. We were putting up decent scorelines all summer and were way less reliant on goals than in previous years.
I don’t think Keaney had a particularly good year at all but he’s a good player. Brogan was hit and miss as well but he’s also a fine player. Vaughan was a big addition as a scoring threat and a reliable free taker and I think he solved most of their attacking problems.
I think Curran is right because those are the facts. Dublin lost this year and last year because they surrendered the half back line at key points in the second half and the management didn’t know how to change it.
