Dubs may rue Connolly absence, warns Kernan

JOE KERNAN has claimed that Dublin’s four-in-a-row ambitions could be threatened by the absence of five-time All-Ireland winner Diarmuid Connolly. The St Vincent’s player opted off the county panel this summer only to make headlines in America last weekend, kicking 12 points for Donegal Boston and inspiring them to victory over Wolfe Tones in the final of the Boston Championship. At Croke Park yesterday, Kernan was inducted into the GAA’s Hall of Fame along with Limerick hurler Leonard Enright. And the man who guided Armagh to their only All-Ireland football triumph believes Dublin could rue the loss of Connolly for Sunday’s final against Tyrone. ‘I think Diarmuid Connolly could be missed on this day. He was the one man who came on this last three or four years and made a difference,’ said Kernan. ‘Other boys came on and got a few scores but Diarmuid Connolly took two and three men to mark him. There is nobody of that calibre going to come off the bench that’s going to take up to two or three men to mark him. So he could be missed on Sunday. ‘But the other players who have come on are athletic scorers, [Cormac] Costello, [Kevin] McManamon — I don’t think he’s as good as he was but I still think if it’s one v one there is no better man to skin somebody and put it away. ‘Have Tyrone a chance? Yes. Can Tyrone put them under enough pressure that Dublin can’t play the game? I think

they can. If they don’t get off to a bad start, they can make it interesting. ‘Then if it gets interesting we’ll see who breaks, who gets the score to turn the game or who gets the block on to save the game.’ He is reluctant to write off Mickey Harte’s team given his knowledge of what the Tyrone manager brings to the table, going back to the all-Ulster final of 2003 when Armagh’s dreams of back-to-back titles were thwarted. ‘There is something about Tyrone, an eagerness and an anger about them this year and they seem better equipped to last 70 minutes. If they don’t give away goals early on I think they can cause problems.’ As someone who played against the Kerry team that won four in a row (1978-81), he refuses to rate this Dublin generation higher, though he says they certainly have a stronger squad. ‘Kerry at that time had about 16, 17 players. They lost the Bomber [Eoin Liston] one day and they nearly lost an AllIreland. And that was only one player. That Kerry team was exceptional but this Dublin team have ticked every box, done everything right. Jim Gavin’s managed them superbly – he’s left no stone unturned.’ LIMERICK’S three-time All-Star full-back Leonard Enright – inducted yesterday into the GAA’s Hall of Fame – said he found the nerve-jangling finale of the All-Ireland SHC final hard to watch. ‘The last couple of minutes was the worst I’ve ever come across,’ said the Treaty legend. ‘It was just dreadful because there’s nothing you can do about it. If you were playing then there’s something. It’s done so much for Limerick, they’re the best side I’ve ever seen. ‘We needed an All-Ireland badly. We were back in one with this great bunch of lads and it would have been disastrous to let it go.’