DARREN DALY HAS been added to the Dublin backroom team for their six-in-a-row push after hanging up his boots in September.
Seven times an All-Ireland winner as a player, the Fingal Ravens defender was listed as one of Dessie Farrell’s selectors in the match programme of last night’s Leinster SFC quarter-final against Westmeath.
Dublin have lost plenty of experience following the recent departures of Diarmuid Connolly, Jack McCaffrey, Eoghan O’Gara, Bernard Brogan and Daly.
Farrell was evidently keen to keep Daly on board in some capacity. His know-how has been retained in the dressing room as Dublin look to defend their provincial and All-Ireland titles in this most unusual of championships.
The Sky Blues will need to win five games in the next six weeks if they’re to land the Sam Maguire on 19 December.
They overcame the first obstacle last night with minimal fuss.
“We’re happy with our performance,” said Farrell. “I thought Westmeath kicked some fantastic scores. We knew beforehand they had a bit of firepower and were capable of doing a bit of damage if we weren’t on the money but thankfully we were well focused and our heads were in the game and we got the result.
“Defensively, I think they were very well-organised. I think we did reasonably well to pick them apart for some of our scores. Goal opportunities weren’t going to be too plentiful with the way they set up and how well structured they were.
“We probably should have got one near the end and maybe should have been a little more clinical. We’re always looking for goals.”
It set-up a Leinster semi-final showdown with either Laois or Longford in Croke Park next weekend.
And the games will keep coming thick and fast with the provincial decider fixed for the same venue the following weekend. Following that, the Leinster champions will have two weeks to prepare for the All-Ireland semi-final against Ulster opposition and another fortnight before the final if they make it.
Rather than the usual two or three-week break in between championship fixtures, the week-on-week grind will bring new challenges for the Dublin squad and backroom team.
The tight turnaround between games means using the usual in-house matches as opportunities for players to play their way into contention won’t be an option this season.
Among the big guns to remain rooted to the bench against Westmeath were Kevin McManamon, Paul Mannion, Cian O’Sullivan and Philly McMahon, while Michael Darragh Macauley didn’t make the squad as he nears a return from injury.
Farrell must walk a tightrope in keeping the team fresh, managing fatigue and injuries while dishing out enough game-time to maintain the match fitness of his veterans.
They’ll breeze through Leinster, but the Dublin boss will need all the experience at his disposal for a potential last four clash against the Ulster champions – most likely Donegal – on 5 December.
“You’re not going to get much time to practice,” he stated after the 0-22 to 0-11 win.
“It’s about recovery and obviously we’ll review the performance take a look at who we’re going to play the next day and that will be it and we’ll be ready to go again.
“It’s a big challenge and we spoke about this earlier. That’s definitely weighed heavily on some individuals’ minds and obviously not just with our squad; it’s the same for everybody. It’s a challenge to try and break-in. All you can do is what you can do.”
Westmeath boss Jack Cooney observed that not much has changed for Dublin under their new manager.
“Certainly the hunger is still there, the organisation, athleticism and the ability, obviously that’s not in question. I think they’re a very formidable team.
“It’s difficult for them because they have a run of games now every week so if they want to win the championship, the All-Ireland, they have to go the whole way to the 19 December.
“So it’s about managing fatigure, managing injuries, load and all that so there’s an awful lot of things to take into consideration. I think that Dublin team need to be ready at the right time. They won’t be far off it .”
After the Lake County sealed survival in Division 2, Cooney faced the tricky scenario of preparing his team for a championship that, realistically, was always going to end at the first hurdle last night.
“When the fixture was scheduled initially, we really set ourselves up as win, lose or draw this game, it was about the next game. It was about showing a bit of character to respond from possibly a defeat like this you could say, but we were denied that opportunity.
“So when we came back in September, our main focus was on the first league match. So we literally only prepared two weeks for this Dublin match because we wanted to maintain Division 2 status at least and that’s a good platform for us to develop and progress from.
“Because you don’t make up the big gap on the likes of Dublin and these overnight, a couple of weeks or one season. I think it has to be a real long-term plan. So that’s the way we went about it.
“We were delighted we held our Division 2 status and we can develop from there. We set ourselves different targets, different performance indicators for today.
“We actually did very well on some of them which is good, the likes of turnovers – I’d say we turned over Dublin more than a lot of teams, I know conditions and time of year and all that.
“We wanted to try and put a couple of goals past them, I think we created a couple near the end when it opened up and I don’t think we gave them a real clear cut (goal chances). They never really opened us up.
“Now I know you can say that’s lacking a lot of ambition to go on and win a game but we thought they were very, very realistic achievable goals to go after in a game like this.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
