The hex that Dublin have over Wexford
The frequency of their championship meetings in recent years has lead to a relationship developing between Dublin and Wexford. And it is one which Dublin have bossed.
That is the trend to have emerged from their victories in Leinster championship meetings in four of the last five years, including triumphs during two provincial deciders in that time. Yesterday was a golden chance for Wexford to halt that barren record, three points up early in the second-half after having played some really enterprising football and having the benefit of a personnel advantage as well following the dismissal of Diarmuid Connolly.
But they lapsed into bad habits into their play, could not maintain a grip on the game and let a great opportunity slip from their grasp. It was a galling defeat for a group of players and management that deserve immense credit for the manner in which they have developed in recent seasons. But despite all their progress they cannot seem to overcome the hurdle of facing Dublin in Croke Park.
There are neat co-relations between Wexford’s record against Dublin and that experienced by Limerick against Kerry in the Munster championship over the past decade and that experienced by Donegal between 2002 and 2006 when they lost three Ulster finals and an All-Ireland semi-final to Armagh. Sometimes a side in their lifetime simply cannot find a way past a certain opponent.
The rise of the stature of Kevin McManamon
To the majority of observers, he is the man who broke open the 2011 All-Ireland final. The substitute that made that run against Kerry, produced that junk inside the scrambling defence and unleashed that calm finish to the net. But rather than living off the legend of that substitute cameo Kevin McManamon seems determined to embellish his reputation further.
Instead of being satisfied with his lot, the St Jude’s man bears the look of a man tired with warming the bench and entering the play in the second-half of big championship days. Much like Kerry’s Darran O’Sullivan grew irritated with the super sub tag that was attached to him, McManamon wants to be in the action from the start.
Yesterday he was excellent and an integral reason as to why Dublin won the game. He set the ball rolling on the scoreboard with the first point of the game and kicked another before the break. But it was in the second-half, when Dublin’s challenge was listing badly, that he surfaced with his most telling contributions.
The left-foot shot that he smashed to the net delivered a critical goal and he also grabbed another vital point. Dublin captain Bryan Cullen spoke after of how McManamon brings something different to the party with his dynamic style and that was in evidence here. On a day when the Brogan brothers were quiet and Diarmuid Connolly was shown a red card, McManamon stepped up to become the main man in attack.
The importance of Ciaran Lyng to Wexford
He was not 100% fit and his manager Jason Ryan had no qualms in admitting that afterwards in his post-match press conference. Ciaran Lyng has had his injury troubles this year, with a groin problem that affected his build-up to the drawn game with Longford ultimately leading to him being ruled out for the replay with Glenn Ryan’s team.
But even with that ailment hampering him entering yesterday’s match, he still produced a collection of beautiful football moments that illustrated how a team that plies its trade in Division 3 can have a shot at toppling the reigning All-Ireland champions.
Lyng began at centre-forward and orchestrated the play splendidly. He may not have registered on the scoreboard but he still influenced Wexford’s scoring return in the first-half with a succession of outstanding kick passes. It was his perceptive delivery that lead to Redmond Barry stealing in for that early first-half goal and it was his execution of a fantastic cross field ball that lead to PJ Banville pointing before half-time. In essence he helped make Wexford tick and Dublin’s withdrawal of Ger Brennan was a salute to that.
When he was forced off midway through the second-half, the Model county were robbed of someone at the hub of their offensive play to calm matters down and help curb the wretched shooting that blighted their performance. Lyng’s prowess from dead ball situations was also missed.
Yet even though he was not fit, the St Martin’s man did enough to demonstrate why Wexford had to start him if they were to find a way past a team as organized and cohesive in defence as Dublin and why they must hope he can recover if they are to launch a meaningful assault on the All-Ireland qualifiers.
The lack of panic in Dublin’s play
Almost two years on and it has become clear how pivotal an afternoon the 2010 All-Ireland semi-final was in the development of this Dublin team. Sure that was a ghastly experience for them as they coughed up an advantage when Cork pegged them back and being knocked out at the last four stage was wounding.
That was a day when they panicked when they went ahead, committing needless fouls in defence and allowing anxiety to creep into their play. It proved an instructive experience though. Now they simply refuse to panic.
And there could have been plenty reason for them to panic yesterday. Trailing on the scoreboard during the second-half, bereft of a player when Diarmuid Connolly was brandished with a red card, deprived of the expected top-drawer performances from marquee players and displaying clear signs of rustiness in their play. Yet they held their nerve impressively to limit their opponents to just two points in the second-half, neither of which were scored by a forward from play, and methodically worked their way back into contention.
By displaying the composure when in possession to minimize the damage caused by the dismissal of Connolly, they ensured that they retained ownership of the game. Winning the second-half by 1-6 to 0-2 was a testament to that and emerging from a sticky situation was a testament to the maturity of this team.
The triumph of 14 men against 15 men
It is one of the great GAA cliches and one of the great GAA anomalies. How do 14 men manage to overcome a sending-off to raise their game to such a level that it leads to them overturning a team with 15 men? Jason Ryan had some interesting points to make on that subject after the game.
The Wexford manager pointed out how the team with a full complement of players faces a dilemma of where to position the spare man and how to maximize that advantage properly is a challenge that both players on the the pitch and management on the sideline do find difficult to meet.
The shortcomings that had been apparent in Dublin’s play seemed to disappear in the wake of Connolly’s dismissal as they tightened up their performance. The introduction of Michael Darragh MacAuley helped, the greater defensive diligence of James McCarthy and Kevin Nolan also helped but what helped most of all in Ryan’s eyes was that Dublin played more ‘off the cuff’ in their football.
There was an unpredictability and abandon to their play that Wexford found difficult to manage. It was as if the expectation levels had swung towards Wexford when the sending-off occurred and they floundered in trying to cope with them. In contrast Dublin played with a release and raised their game to fashion another instance where 14 men triumphed in a championship encounter.
