‘Scoring six points against Westmeath doesn’t mean you’re the next Diarmuid Connolly’

Dean Rock. Paul Mannion. Ciaran Kilkenny. Sure throw Kevin McManamon into the mix too.

Dublin went into their first game after Diarmuid Connolly’s 12-week suspension and tore Westmeath asunder. 4-29 to 0-10 en-route to another Leinster Final and they rarely it top gear.

Kildare await, on Sunday, and The GAA Hour was struggling to find a Kildare native confidently backing their own county to upset the odds. And that was in the heart of Newbridge.

Host Colm Parkinson was joined by a healthy mix of Dublin and Kildare GAA men – Glenn Ryan, Willie McCreery, Eddie McCormack, Pillar Caffrey, Johnny Magee and Eamon Fennell – to look ahead to the final and the common consensus was for Jim Gavin’s men to march on.

McCreery did offer some hope to fans of the Lilywhites [from 22:00 below] as he assessed the gradual changing of the guard in the Dublin camp.

McCreery noted how Dublin look slightly more human now that Connolly is out of the picture, Michael Darrag MacAuley is injured and Bernard Brogan is no longer guaranteed a starting place. He said:

“Dublin have moved ahead of everyone else in Leinster, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. But no different than Kilkenny in the hurling, Dublin are going through their golden period.

“And when it does finish, with the Flynns, McMahons and Brogans coming to their end – and we’d like to think that will start on Sunday – they are not going to come back with those sort of fellas or brilliant players to replace them overnight. 

“It will take a bit of time, and just because you’re scoring five or six points in a 30-point victory, it doesn’t mean you’re the next Paul Flynn or Diarmuid Connolly. I wouldn’t say there is a changing of the guard [yet] but there’s certainly hope.” 

There you have it Paul, Con, Cormac and the rest of the up and coming Dubs – time to go prove yourself all over again.

Later on the night, and in the podcast, we came around to predictions. ‘Pillar’ Caffrey said 8 to 10 points, McCormack was hoping for a ‘single digits’ Kildare defeat and Fennell said Dublin by ‘around 10 points’.

Sorry Kildare but as Roscommon showed against Galway, last weekend, upsets can still happen.

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