Champions Dublin well served by a potent bench
IT could hardly have been further removed from Croke Park on All-Ireland day. The sun-splashed surrounds of Canton’s ‘Field A’ on the grounds of the Irish Cultural Centre in Boston. Strolling behind a pipe band in front of a select audience of interested spectators rather than behind the Artane Band in front of a full house on Jones’ Road. Togged out in the gold and green of Donegal Boston rather than the sky blue of the Dublin team with whom he won five All-Irelands.
About the only familiar thing about Diarmuid Connolly kicking ball on the other side of the Atlantic seven days out from Dublin taking on Tyrone in a September showpiece at home was the number on his jersey. Nobody else was going to get their hands on number 12.
Elsewhere on these pages, Joe Kernan suggests that Dublin could rue Connolly’s absence when it matters most. That the bench looks a little less threatening without the St Vincent’s star who decided to opt out and spend the summer in America.
There’s no denying that his absence takes a top quality player out of the equation, one who famously took Tyrone apart in the 2011 quarter-final when scoring seven points. He also had a critical influence off the bench in last year’s final against Mayo.
Back in 2011, three different markers couldn’t tie him down, causing Tyrone manager Mickey Harte to proclaim ruefully: ‘We could have put on 10 different subs tonight and it would have made no difference.’
But Dublin’s bench is still being held up as a major reason why the title holders are the hottest of favourites to make history and secure a four-in-a-row.
There isn’t another starting team in the country that Cormac Costello wouldn’t make. Con O’Callaghan swept the board in terms of honours — both team and individual — after a stellar 2017, in both codes. Yet he trails fourth in the top scorers list for Dublin in this year’s Championship, his 2-10 leaving him behind Costello who has contributed 18 points: 14 from play, with three frees and a 45 throw in.
All were notched up in five appearances. Nine of those scores came in the dead rubber Super 8s game against Roscommon when he earned a rare start and shot the lights out. The Connacht side found him as hard to handle as quicksilver.
When he was subbed off in the 47th minute, replaced by Paddy Small, it was as if Jim Gavin was reminding him to remain grounded.
Because his strike rate to that point was phenomenal, seven points coming from play, one from a free and, just for good measure, another from a 45.
There is a strong case to be made that Costello (right) is Dublin’s most in-form forward. In the semi-final against Galway, he casually notched up three points, two from play, in the time he was on the field after replacing Niall Scully in the 44th minute. Yet the pattern of the summer suggests he will be the impact substitute Dublin look to most up front, just as in the 2016 final when his three points off the bench swung the day against Mayo.
If Shane Dowling holds the status as hurling’s most celebrated super sub, his impact off the bench critical in Limerick winning the All-Ireland semi-final against Cork and final against Galway, Costello is stuck in a role that Kevin McManamon has played so often on-screen. In the Super 8s encounter with Tyrone in Omagh, it was the latter who made a telling impact. If the starting 15 follows the logic of the semi-final against Galway, Dublin will also have fourtime All-Star Paul Flynn waiting in the wings (1-7 to his name this summer) and Paddy Andrews who also has a wealth of big-match experience. The lack of sentiment and ruthless level of competition is evidenced by the speculation over whether Bernard Brogan — just the five All-Irelands and former Footballer of the Year sta- tus — will gain a place in the match-day 26 after his quick return from a cruciate knee ligament injury.
Mickey Harte’s Catch-22 surrounds whether to start Lee Brennan or hope he can play the Costello role of big impact scorer off the bench. The chorus of commentators crying for Brennan to start against Monaghan went very quiet after the semi-final when Harte did just that and the same player was subbed early in the second half without a score from play.
No doubt Harte is counting on the pattern of the game mirroring the Omagh encounter when Tyrone stayed in touch until the final quarter — just about — before going for broke and finishing strong with substitutes Kieran McGeary and Harry Loughran grabbing three unanswered points.
If Ronan O’Neill’s free hadn’t screwed off target, the gap would have been down to just the bare minimum.
Instead, another substitute on the night, Paul Flynn, popped up to kick the insurance point, proving once again how vital the
There is ruthless competition and a lack of sentiment Against Roscommon, Costello was as hard to handle as quicksilver