Missing that kick in the League final was a blessing in disguise
DUBLIN HERO’S FATHER HAD NO DOUBT LATE FREE WAS GOING STRAIGHT OVER BAR
ROCK solid when he really had to be – Barney had no doubt that his son Dean would slot the winning point in the All-ireland final. The 27-year-old had missed a crucial kick in the League final against Kerry as Dublin saw their unbeaten record fall. But Barney, the former three-time All-star who won one All-ireland title with the Dubs in 1984 and was synonymous with free-taking in that era, wonders in hindsight if it all worked out for the best after watching his son land the winning free in the 77th minute on Sunday. “At the time he was very disappointed,” the 56-year-old recalled. “But as I said to him at the time, he was very far out. “He actually struck it well but the ball just never came in. “Maybe that was a blessing in disguise because if that had gone over, all the talk might have been of this invincible team and we might not have won the Championship. “That was the first time they were beaten in 36 games and that record, they had gone by the record, and there was lucky matches in there. “There were some times when they looked great. “But after the League final Dean was back playing club football the following week and kicking ball over the bar. “They don’t all go over, but the important ones do.” And this one went over despite an unwelcome distraction. A GPS tracker was flung in the direction of Rock’s foot as he made contact with the ball, seeming to hit his boot on the follow through. “Maybe that’s what put it over the bar,” grinned Barney. A photograph captured the moment for posterity. But imagine the controversy had Rock missed. “I saw the picture, yeah,” said Barney. “It would have been interesting had the thing hit the ball but that’s not an issue now. The ball went over the bar. “When you’re taking a free and you put it down, you are concentrating on it and you don’t see anything else but the goalposts and the ball. “What amazed me is that it was happening throughout the game that people were coming up - that 10-metre rule around the player, it just doesn’t happen. “He is trained to kick it. As he was being brought up he was trained to kick all those frees – and he was kicking off the ground also. “It’s all practice and he definitely has the nerve. That was the important one to put over, it was a shot to win it and he stood up and put it away well. “It was a bit like that great free of [Stephen] Cluxton’s in 2011, except it was at the other end of the field. It was good for him to kick it over. “There’s a lot more at stake now even though the prize is still the same. Nowadays it just seems like the winners takes everything.” Rock had got off to a bad start - his first kick curled away from the far post, and at the time, in his mind, Barney implored his son not to go for it. His second kick, a 45, was scuffed wide. But after that he got four good points from play, as Barney pointed out. “I was glad that everything went right for him, but he works hard. “He mightn’t have started well, but he was still there and he was still kicking the balls in the end.” Dean has experienced some lows, like missing three quarters of the year in 2011 playing for Jim Gavin when he was in charge of the under-21s. His hamstring came off the bone and he worked with Ciaran Murray, a physio with the Ireland soccer team, over six months to get it right again. “He came back and won a club Championship with Ballymun,” said Barney. He was also taken off at half-time in the 2015 final against Kerry. Barney added: “I think Jim knows his worth in that end of it.”
At the time he was disappointed but they don’t all go over the bar