Dublin's defence and work rate get them over the line
Last Sunday’s Leinster hurling semi-final between Dublin and Wexford was quite pallid compared with the much higher-octane fare provided by Tipperary and Clare down in Limerick.
Here were two sides which seemed to be low in confidence – Wexford because of their failure to escape from Division 2 of the National Hurling League, plus the absence of many of their best players, and Dublin because of the immense pressure they were under to finally get the Wexford monkey off their backs.
The lack of real quality in the game was reflected in the low number of plays accorded a quality rating of 4 (“excellent”) or 5 (“superb) according to the rating system used in this column – there were just 13 in all compared with 23 in the Tipp/Clare game and 25 in the Waterford/Limerick game on Saturday.
While Dublin barely scraped over the line, there is no doubt that they deserved to win. While the average quality of play was the same for both sides, Dublin worked harder, as reflected in a higher total of individual plays in both halves (86:72 in the first half, 74:66 in the second). Dublin also had far more star performers – six of their players exceeded 30 quality points compared with just one for Wexford (Gizzy Lyng, who worked himself into the ground on behalf of the Slaneysiders). Wexford also started with a couple of out-and-out passengers (Peter Atkinson and Tomás Waters) while Stephen Banville’s impact – so vital against Offaly – was very limited on this occasion. If Wexford had started with the team that finished, they would probably have won this game – all five substitutes who were introduced made significant contributions, particularly Harry Kehoe and James Tonks.
The Dublin defence was, for the most part, immense, as reflected in Wexford’s low final scoring tally. Tomás Brady and Niall Corcoran were magnificent in the fullback line while Oisín Gough also made some excellent plays, both in the fullback line and further out in the second half. In the halfback line, captain Stephen Hiney and Joey Boland processed a lot of mainly unspectacular ball.
Up front, they got good performances from Dotsy O’Callaghan and Shane Durkin, while Simon Lambert made a telling contribution when he came on. Young Liam Rushe found it hard to come to grips with the game and remained largely peripheral to proceedings. However, he clearly has great talent, and will undoubtedly benefit greatly from the experience.
For Wexford, Malachy Travers and Paul Roche battled manfully in the fullback line and Richie Kehoe had a good first half (despite a couple of howlers) but disappeared from the game after the change of ends. Overall, Ciarán Kenny was their best defender. Up front. Rory Jacob, Declan Redmond, Stephen Doyle, Willie Doran and Harry Kehoe all worked hard for little reward.
Overall, Joey Boland was the game’s most effective player with 41 quality points from 18 plays, just ahead of Niall Corcoran and Dotsy O’Callaghan (both 39/15) and Tomás Brady (38/13). Stephen Hiney (35/17) and Shane Durkin (32/13) also broke the 30-point barrier. The only Wexford player to manage this was Gizzy Lyng (36/15), followed by a group of players in the mid-twenties.
One expects that Dublin, with the Wexford millstone thrown off, will perform to a higher level in the Leinster final against Kilkenny, and we look forward, in particular, to Liam Rushe and O’Callaghan making life difficult for the Cats’ fullbacks. However, while their defence will put up some stiff resistance, they simply do not have the presence or work rate around the middle of the field to seriously discommode the defending champions. Play ratings (quality points in brackets, dead ball plays not counted): Dublin: Maguire G 3 (7); Corcoran N 15 (39); Brady T 13 (38); Gough O 9 (26); Hiney S 17 (35); Boland J 18 (41); Carton M 6 (10); McCaffrey J 4 (9); McCrabbe A 10 (24); Durkin S 13 (32); Kelly P 6 (14); Flynn K 7 (11); O’Callaghan D 15 (39); Rushe L 6 (12); Treacy D 8 (22); Lambert S 6 (17); Curtin D 3 (7); Sweeney D 1 (2).
Wexford: Fitzhenry D 3 (7); Travers M 10 (25); Roche P 10 (25); O’Connor D 6 (9); Jacob M 7 (18); Kehoe R 9 (22); Kenny C 9 (26); Lyng D 15 (36); Atkinson P 2 (3); Doran W 8 (19); Waters T 1 (2); Jacob R 11 (25); Redmond D 9 (25); Banville B 4 (12); Doyle S 11 (27); Kehoe H 8 (17); Kirwan N 3 (8); Nolan PJ 3 (7); Tonks J 6 (17); Martin E 3 (7).
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