WE’RE ON A ROAD TO NOWWHERE AWAY DAY BLUES Tommy Carr of Dublin faces Kildare in 1989 and, below, Kieran Duff with Pat Spillane

Dubs legend Duff not optimistic despite 42-year record

KIERAN DUFF was in Tullamore last week for a 40th anniversary get-together with the Offaly lads from the 1983 Leinster final when Dublin’s win over Kildare in 1989 came up.

Duff scored 1-2 in that Leinster quarter-final in Newbridge and his inquisitor drew reference to his goal direct from a sideline ball.

“A great goal, you stuck it in the top corner,” he told the former Dublin star.

“I don’t think I stuck it in the top corner,” Duff replied modestly. “The goalkeeper made a balls of it!”

That game is the last that Dublin played against Kildare in the Championship anywhere but Croke Park, with all 18 subsequent meetings taking place at GAA headquarters.

St Conleth’s Park, packed with 15,000, looked no different then from when it did until its recent closure for redevelopment.

“When I was walking up to take the sideline ball I was getting heckled and abused and all sorts of names and things like that didn’t bother me,” Duff (above) recalls.

“Took the sideline ball and I don’t usually gesture to a crowd but, anyway, the ball ended up in the back of the net and with all the booing and jeering I was getting, I just turned around and gave two fingers to the crowd!

“We played anywhere down the country, Kildare, Offaly, whoever, Meath. They were all tight games.

“Going back to the present day, there’d be a much better atmosphere having Dublin versus, say, Offaly in Tullamore or even Portlaoise when you can fit even 20,000, instead of having it in Croke Park with two games on and only 20,000 in. There’s no atmosphere whatsoever.”

Dublin haven’t lost to Leinster opposition outside Croke Park since the 1981 Leinster semi-final against Laois, a game Duff missed through injury after damaging his back in the game round against Wicklow.

Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, they didn’t tend to see Croke Park until the Leinster final, so their record on the road was something to be proud of.

Today’s Kildare-dublin game is a designated home tie for Kildare but with no ground in the county capable of holding it, it reverts to UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny.

The irony isn’t lost on Duff in light of Glenn Ryan’s comments about the advantage that Dublin have with Croke Park after their twopoint victory over his side in the Leinster semi-final on April 30.

“Glenn Ryan came out with the statement and then a couple of weeks later, they get a home draw against Dublin and they haven’t got a pitch to play it,” he smiled.

“I don’t think that’ll motivate Dublin, what Glenn Ryan said. Dublin have their own problems.

“Number one, when we are playing against a team like Kildare that day and that system and Roscommon, we haven’t got the players anymore that can break the tackle, that can run at pace.

“The guys that have been doing it for the last number of years done it a couple of times in the second half [against Roscommon], the James Mccarthys or Brian Fenton, but they’re not doing it like they did years ago.

“There’s no impact sub or there’s no pace coming off the bench for Dublin. It’d be a big worry for me.

“Ciaran Kilkenny could be doubtful, Davy Byrne went off injured, James Mccarthy went off injured at the end of the game and Jack Mccaffrey has been out.

“I wouldn’t be too optimistic about Dublin getting to a final even.”