Dublin half back Shane Barrett had a productive Sunday afternoon’s work against Offaly.
So did Chris Crummy on the other side of the pitch. The Offaly hurlers had an absolute nightmare on the same Sunday, the day that saw them relegated from the Leinster championship for the first time in their history, but just as the Faithful were bad, Dublin were slick, smooth and clinical.
It is often said that the half back line is a team’s most important line, that a good half back line can compensate for deficiencies in many other areas of the pitch. Dublin built from their half back line and their three musketeers Barrett, Crummy and Sean Moran set a platform from which the rest of the team flourished.
Indeed, it was a case horses for courses for Pat Gilroy’s men with their sweeper nowhere near as pronounced as it had been in their previous two games against Kilkenny and Wexford.
And with a more attacking approach against inferior opposition, the Dubs showed exactly what they can do when given the opportunity. As is often the case in hurling nowadays, defence was the most potent form of attack and the Dubs picked Offaly apart from the back.
By the day’s end, they had put 17 points between themselves and their opponents as they demolished a listless Offaly in front of a pleased Parnell Park crowd.
Two men who blossomed in the Donnycarney sun were half backs Barrett and Crummy, with both men hitting Kevin Martin’s men for four points from play.
For a half forward, there’s no spirit breaker quite like your marker going down the other end to reel off a point from play. For Offaly pair Damien and Colin Egan, this was a particularly galling afternoon.
“Their half back line was totally dominant. A lot of Offaly’s puck-outs went high on top of Shane Barrett and Chris Crummy. They cleaned up. They were very impressive. Two big men, they’re 6 ft 2 or 3 in tall, but they’re very, very athletic. They’re quick on the turn, quick to cover ground,” said Cheddar Plunkett on the most recent GAA Hour episode of the pair’s showing, and how Offaly played into their hands.
Indeed, one of Barrett’s first half efforts will surely go down as one of the points of this whole championship.
With a deft flick of the wrists, he manipulates the ball into his stride from the hop while leaving his man for dust on the half turn. He then swings a beauty off the left and on the run.
https://twitter.com/Darth_Cody/status/1003389719072395264
Tweet Credit: @Darth_Cody. Clip credit:RTÉ.
While it was an effective afternoon’s work fork for the sky blues, it will serve to underline the frustration of this campaign as a whole. They could easily have three wins from three, but instead, due to a combination of bad luck and an inability to close games out, they’re on two points and have no chance of progression going into their final group game against Galway.
There were bundles of positives, however, in the impressive showings of the likes of Barrett, Fergal Whitely, Sean Moran, Cian O’Callaghan and more.
Dublin are a force to be reckoned with and the glory days of the Anthony Daly era won’t be too far away if they keep this momentum going.
