NO SHRINKING VIOLETS
With a new-found defensive steel, Dublin may discover Tribe are...
THE intrigue of tomorrow’s Allianz League final comes packaged in terror rather than curiosity. It goes with the territory of playing Dublin at Croke Park in a spring final; an experience which has traumatised some unfortunates almost to the point of extinction. Derry marked the fourth anniversary of their 25point hammering by Jim Gavin’s team in the 2014 final by dropping into the game’s basement tier, as if still trying to put distance between themselves and the scene of that massacre.
Cork’s fall from football’s grace might not have been as dramatic, but the shell-shock of seeing an eight-point lead transform into a seven-point loss in that year’s semi-final to Dublin provided the fuel for their downward spiral.
Both counties serve as a reminder that you can lose more than a match when you eyeball Dublin, you can also lose your way.
Those who like to lace a heartwarming yarn with a sprinkle of impending doom will no doubt remind a Galway team in search of the county’s first League title in 27 years that the comedown from the giddy heights they have reached could be brutal tomorrow.
That may well be the case but selling Kevin Walsh’s team as footballing innocents will take quite the pitch. They are anything but; back-to-back All-Ireland quarterfinal defeats to Tipperary and Kerry have provided the kind of harsh education that either meant giving up school or embracing it.
Those who still believe Galway’s footballers are some kind of cute, docile canine that invites petting would do well to watch their hands. The county that for a generation were sickened with kind words about how easy they were on the eye have decided there is a lot more reward in being hard to play against.
Their unbeaten run to the final has been based on structured defence — most likely the gift imparted by the addition of Paddy Tally to Walsh’s coaching team this season — which has produced the kind of figures not seen at the top level since Donegal marched to Jim McGuinness’s beat.
They have conceded just one goal all spring, while their average concession rate is running at under 12 points a game — more than two points lower than Dublin.
And that defensive structure is policed by a ruthless mindset, which has seen accusations levelled at them that they have developed an appetite for cynicism and a level of physicality not always associated with them.
After years of being one of the favoured targets of school yard bullies, it is likely that Walsh will see those accusations as more of a compliment than a stain.
Of course, it can be argued that in 70 minutes Dublin rendered the blanket defence game-plan redundant in their All-Ireland semi-final win over Tyrone.
But that is to assume that all blankets are woven the same way when the reality was that Mickey Harte simply borrowed the crude prototype that McGuinness threw over his team in 2011, which suffocated ambition.
Galway’s system is closer to McGuinness’ second generation game-plan, where the blanket became more of an attacking strategy than a defensive one.
You need to have natural pace to make it work, which is why Galway are so well quipped to sting. The likes of Sean Kelly, Johnny Heaney, Shane Walsh and Eamon Brannigan have the capacity to torch grass and exploit any pockets of space that might open up. That is not to say it is a winning game-plan — Dublin have not been sucker-punched by that strategy since that 2014 loss to Donegal — quite simply because the champions great strength is their own diligence to mass defence when required.
But what it does mean is that Galway, unlike Tyrone last year, will not come here to bunker up but also to bomb on.
More importantly, again unlike Tyrone, they will also not be so foolish to come with only the one gameplan. The presence of Damien Comer in the full-forward provides a more direct threat and a potent one too — his tally of 1-11 may appear modest but he has been his team’s second-most prolific player in open play, one point shy of Brannigan’s tally of 2-9.
Those are figures that will hardly frighten, but when you are not leaking at the other end, it is surprising how little you can get by on. There is enough in that to believe that whatever fate befalls Galway, it will not see them stumble into the summer in a bewildered heap.
Winning here, though, is asking too much. Such is the culture that Gavin has nourished that even losing a dead-rubber game to Monaghan will smart within the champions’ dressing room.
And once their attitude is right, their quality takes care of business. Such has been their sustained level of excellence under Gavin’s watch that the danger of the nation taking their brilliance for granted is ever present.
And, yet, there have been so many times this spring when they have somehow managed to raise the bar
even higher, not least in the manner in how they demolished Kerry with effectively half a team. It has been a spectacular campaign, even by Gavin’s high expectations and not just in terms of results.
The blooding of Brian Howard, the development of Niall Scully and the sustained brilliance of Brian Fenton — back to his 2016 form — have all been huge pluses, but the biggest of all is the tune he has knocked out of Ciaran Kilkenny.
It is a reflection of the importance of the collective, one of their great strengths, that Kilkenny was happy to serve in a ‘carry and fetch’ role for the last couple of years but this spring he has reminded us why he was such an exciting talent at minor level.
Back in a more orthodox attacking role, he racked up 2-16 all from open play and adds another dimension to an attack not lacking in threat or options.
This depth is what sets them apart. Gavin has used 33 players this spring, which has not included Con O’Callaghan, who will shortly be reunited with the group, or Jack McCaffrey, who is in the advanced phase of injury rehab.
In contrast, Galway used just 17 different starting players in the opening five games, until they sealed their place in the final.
Down the home straight here, Dublin’s depth will ensure that they will finish stronger than they will start. Galway’s success will be in staying the pace to take the contest to that point.