THE GAMES ARE coming thick and fast for the Dublin hurlers as they get used to life under new boss Pat Gilroy.
Gilroy, who’s in his first job as a hurling manager at any grade, is still familiarising himself with the players at his disposal ahead of the Division 1B league opener against Offaly at Croke Park on Saturday 27 January.
Dublin are without the club-tied Cuala contingent, while a number of players are involved with Fitzgibbon Cup teams and the county’s U20s side. The St Vincent’s man is operating with a panel of about 35 at the minute, although he expects to have a reduced squad named by the time they take on the Faithful.
Dublin’s pre-season has been flooded with games as the management team of Gilroy, Mickey Whelan, Anthony Cunningham and Brendan McLoughlin run the rule over the squad.
Dublin played a number of challenge matches in the run-up to Christmas, including one against the Dubs Stars on 23 December.
“We’re mad keen to get out and play games,” Gilroy said after that match in Marino, where they lost by 1-24 to 0-21. “You can only do so much training, it’s all about playing games so we’re looking forward to that.”
And they’ve certainly been busy since then. They kicked off the New Year with a 4-17 to 0-14 hammering of Meath in Abbotstown on 3 January.
Then Dublin played twice over the weekend – losing by 1-26 to 0-12 in a challenge to Tipperary in Thurles on Saturday before they hammered Antrim at Parnell Park in the Walsh Cup group stage by 4-16 to 0-11 on Sunday.
“We played a game (on Saturday) as well so it was very encouraging to see,” Gilroy said after the win against the Saffrons yesterday.
“We travelled (to Thurles) and we were back late on Saturday night.
“It’s January and fellas are mad for action. We’ve put a good work load on them this week. And to get that sort of effort out of them today… you’re going to make mistakes out there when you’re working that hard but it’s great to see the effort.
“It can take a few minutes to get going. We had a few silly mistakes in that first ten minutes but that was a good sign of character. We conceded five and then scored 2-9 to 0-4 in the remaining part of the first half.”
Gilroy confirmed Dublin will take on Waterford in a midweek challenge match before hosting Davy Fitzgerald’s Wexford in the Walsh Cup semi-final on Sunday in Parnell Park.
With the league fast approaching, he’s clearly taking every opportunity to watch his players in action before he makes a call on a formal squad.
“It is valuable for us,” he said of the Walsh Cup. “Especially with us coming in this year. It’s good to get competitive games for guys. And the challenge matches are good for us at this time of year as well. You need to get guys going again after the winter.
“A lot of these lads haven’t played at inter-county (before) so it’s great for them to get this experience. It’s better than any training session.”
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