‘Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.’
Mike Tyson may not know much about hurling, but he definitely realised the impact of a quick one-two to the solar plexus of an opponent.
Galway took his advice right from the off, last night, as they blew Dublin away. Cathal Mannion’s 11 minute hat-trick was the emphatic highlight from the 5-19 to 1-18 win in Tullamore.
If Dublin are to recover, they need to take note of at least three key lessons from last night’s hammering.
Galway’s aggression sets the template
The game, as a spectacle, may not have been one for the purist, but the levels of aggression from Galway was something that Dublin just could not live with.
The Tribesmen gave away the first free of the game after 12 seconds, with Aidan Harte laying down an early marker for the team and his maroon-clad cohorts.
Time and time again Dublin were hit – not always legally. Galway hunted in packs and closed down the man on the ball at every opportunity. Dublin could not cope and collapsed in the face of constant aggression.
The opening goal came from Mark Schutte being closed down by two Galway men from that free.
As highlighted below, he coughed up possession under extreme pressure. Padraig Mannion launched the sliothar to his brother, who got away from Paul Schutte far too easily and banged home a wonderful goal.
From defence to attack Galway pushed around Dublin and beat them up, in a performance that reminded many of their hassling and chasing of Kilkenny in the 2012 Leinster final, and the first All-Ireland final that September.
Their work-rate, from front to back, was superb.
On a different day, some of their yellow cards may have turned to red, but living on the edge of the disciplinary tightrope is something that Kilkenny and, to a lesser extent, Tipperary have successfully managed in recent years.
It’s something that Dublin need to quickly address before their season is over. A bit of a nasty side isn’t such a bad thing
Dublin defence needs work.
Ger Cunningham may need to invest in a new A4 pad to try and work his way around the problems facing his side.
It was hoped that the loss of Peter Kelly at full back would be counteracted in some part by the return of Paul Schutte, but the Cuala clubman endured possibly the worst 11 minutes of his hurling career during the opening tumult in Tullamore.
Defensively, Dublin were torn apart not only by Mannion in the first half, but after the break when they were chasing the game. Joe Canning was almost playing as a lone-striker off the shoulder of the last man, football-style, and caused havoc.
Dublin were trying to force their way back into the game, but allowing Canning to be one on-one with any defender in a footrace, and with no cover behind him, was a disastrous decision with his 38th minute goal a contest-killer.
Ger Cunningham may not believe in the idea that his side need extra cover, but Mannion’s opening two goals should have been enough warning of the gaping hole in front of the full back line.
Liam Rushe should have been returned to his more customary centre-back role after five minutes to at least give Dublin a chance to settle, but they still could not plug the gaps at the back. Not winning ball in the air and slipping at the worst possible moments didn’t help either. In fact, Dublin’s first touch all day was poor.
Their defence has been getting steadily worse since the start of the year, and it appears now that teams are analysing their problems in the air – as well as a lack of pace in the full-back line – to record big wins over the Sky Blues.
Galway hit them for 1-17 last week, Cork 1-27 in the league semi final. Yesterday’s humiliation is a continuation of that pattern.
Radical surgery may be required, and a return to the sweeper system previously employed under Anthony Daly
Practice your penalties
Colm Callanan did his best Bruce Grobbelaar for Galway on Saturday and it worked.
Six minutes in and with Galway already having registered two goals, Dublin were given a possible lifeline with a penalty after a foul on Ryan O’Dwyer.
David Treacy missed one crucial free last week for Dublin, but, overall, had a fine afternoon.
However he never fully recovered after fluffing his lines for the game’s first penalty.
It may have had something to do with Callanan dancing a jig in front of him, but the Cuala clubman blasted the ball high and wide. It further compounded Dublin’s miserable afternoon.
Already trailing 2-3 to 0-1, the missed opportunity sapped even more confidence from the team.
Paul Ryan, introduced as his replacement on the stroke of half-time, was on the field a matter of seconds before stepping up to the take the second penalty.
This time Callanan was able for the task. The replacement forward could not quite fire his shot far enough into the bottom corner to evade the Galwayman’s dive. Ryan, at least, slotted the resulting ’65.
Goals have been Dublin’s Achilles’ heel over the last number of years. Spurning two golden opportunities at crucial periods may not have rescued the game from Galway’s grasp but they cannot afford to spurn any lifeline offered on what was a demoralising afternoon.
