DUBLIN BOSS ANTHONY Daly insists his team must keep their feet on the ground after tonight’s momentous victory over Kilkenny in the Leinster championship.
Dublin defeated the reigning All-Ireland champions in their semi-final replay clash at Portlaoise but must now get set for next Sunday’s Leinster final against Galway as they go in search of silverware.
“While there’s a great air of celebration around here now, we can’t get too sucked into that,” Daly told RTE Television after the game.
“We’ve to face into a fresh hungry Galway team now next week. We’ll keep our heads down and try to get our heads right for next week. It’s a bit weird beating Wexford in a replay and Kilkenny in a replay but not being Leinster champions. That’s the reality of it.
“It’s a good win. We’ve had four hard matches. It’s tough going, there’s a lot of sore bodies there.”
Daly revealed that Dublin were determined to prove they had not missed their chance with last Sunday’s drawn game.
“Everyone said to me, it’s a pity that since last Sunday. But we felt in the camp, we were capable of coming with a strong performance again. We didn’t really talk about winning the match, we talked about a strong performance and trying to get the absolute best out of ourselves.
“I wouldn’t have felt we got the best out of ourselves, we made a lot of mistakes. We missed a fair bit, I know Kilkenny missed a fair bit as well in the first-half. It’s a good night for Dublin hurling. We’ve to get organized again quickly.”
Dublin’s Danny Sutcliffe and Tommy Walsh of Kilkenny
INPHO/James Crombie
Sutcliffe’s Goal
And Daly praised Danny Sutcliffe who notched the crucial second-half goal that proved the difference in Dublin’s 1-16 to 0-16 victory.
“Danny was taken off last week and was disappointed. I felt there was a big performance coming out of him. He’s one of the best young players in the country without a doubt. I think initially we had that goal chance from Dotsy and one of the Kilkenny lads whipped it out of the line.
“The easy thing for Danny would have been to take his point at that stage but he backed himself and he went in. That gave us the breathing space and we needed it.”
