A PACKED PEARSE Park. A warm summer’s day in June 2006. A narrow victory for the Dubs as Longford nearly pulled off the shock of the championship.
It’s been a decade since Dublin have played a championship game outside of Croke Park.
This changes today, as Jim Gavin’s side travel to Nowlan Park to face Laois and begin the journey towards a likely sixth consecutive provincial title.
The story started similarly in 2006 – Dublin opening their Leinster championship campaign away from home. Not only were they opening their campaign, they were also beginning the defence of their Leinster title.
Longford 0-13 Dublin 1-12
Conal Keaney was the star of the show for Paul Caffery’s side, scoring eight points on the day. Dublin were extremely lucky however. Luke Dempsey’s Longford missed several free kicks and Stephen Cluxton denied an almost certain second-half goal chance.
Longford started brighter and converted five of the first six points of the game. Keaney kept Dublin in touch before Mark Vaughan hit the net, which saw the Dubs lead 1-07 to 0-06 at half time.
Just the previous year, Longford had been beaten by 19 points in Croke Park, so to be within four points and performing well was an achievement in itself.
Their good run continued into the second half, they kept in touch and looked like they could really put it up to Dublin. David Barden was pivotal, pointing twice in the second half and coming close to goal.
Barden’s brother Paul missed two 45s, giving Dublin a lifeline as Keaney and Declan Lally managed to ensure a six point cushion.
In the dying minutes of the game, Longford rallied with four consecutive points. Dublin were under serious pressure with just two points separating the sides but again, Keaney was there to secure the all-important insurance score.
As the clock ran down, Longford never gave up but a point from their final attack wouldn’t suffice as the midlanders fell short by two.
Despite the scare in Pearse Park, Dublin settled back into their rhythm as they returned to Croker and went on to win the Leinster title, beating Offaly comfortably in the final.
The following year, a similar team claimed the provincial title but bowed out of the All-Ireland race to Kerry in the semi-final. 11 of Dublin’s starting 15 from Pearse Park the previous year lined out against the Kingdom little over 14 months later.
Several players that appeared that day in Longford went on to win All-Ireland titles. Stephen Cluxton, Barry Cahill, Alan Brogan and Brian Cullen all played in Dublin’s 2011 one point victory over Kerry.
Cluxton, of course, is still involved with the panel, lining out in goals and captaining the side to two further titles in 2013 and 2015. Meanwhile, Brogan was also involved in the panel in 2013 and appeared as a substitute in last year’s final.
Will Nowlan Park bring difficulties for Cluxton and his Dublin side this weekend? One thing’s for sure, it’ll be interesting to see them outside of their home comforts.
2006 teams
Dublin:
1. Stephen Cluxton
2. David Henry
3. Barry Cahill
4. Niall O’Shea
5. Paul Casey
6. Coman Goggins
7. Paul Griffin
8. Ciarán Whelan
9. Shane Ryan
10. Mark Vaughan
11. Alan Brogan
12. Brian Cullen
13. Kevin Bonner
14. Conal Keaney
15. Tomás Quinn
Subs: Peadar Andrews for Cahill, Jason Sherlock for Quinn, Declan Lally for Ryan, Ray Cosgrove for Bonner
Longford:
1. Damien Sheridan
2. Dermot Brady
3. Noel Farrell
4. Enda Ledwith
5. Cathal Conefrey
6. Arthur O’Connor
7. Declan Reilly
8. Bernard McElvaney
9. Liam Keenan
10. Padraig Berry
11. Paul Barden
12. Trevor Smullen
13. David Barden
14. Kevin Mulligan
15. Brian Kavanagh
Subs: Shane Mulligan for Ledwith, Peter Foy for Berry, Jamesie Martin for Mulligan, Paddy Dowd for Smullen
Referee – Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
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