GAELIC GAMES:IT'S HARD to imagine that a championship crowd at Croke Park on a June Bank Holiday weekend was ever as cold as yesterday's but All-Ireland champions Dublin shrugged off the rain and unseasonal chill to annihilate the challenge of Louth in the Leinster quarter-final.
Whether it was the weather, combined with live television coverage, or the traffic restrictions in the city, many chose to give proceedings a skip and the crowd of 31,530 was the smallest of any to have watched Dublin in a provincial championship match at the venue since it was redeveloped 10 years ago.
At times the extent to which Louth turned up was debateable and a 16-point winning margin, 2-22 to 0-12, was the winners’ biggest since the 2008 Leinster final.
Manager Pat Gilroy was slightly late joining the post-match conference, presumably wracking his brains for the requisite cloud to wrap around the silver lining of yesterday’s strong performance.
“I wasn’t happy with all of it,” he said. “We conceded quite a lot of scoreable frees, which was disappointing and it’s an area we do have to work on.
“We weren’t under pressure today and yet we conceded quite a lot of easy frees.
“I don’t think our technique was good. In general back there we weren’t that good at executing simple things. When we had a guy clogged up, we were lazy and pulled or left the hand in a bit too long so we did things we really need to work on.”
But surely such a high scoring performance balances such reservations?
“In the past we’ve had big scores and performance and then gone out the next day and people shut you down and you might only score six or seven points. That game is now history and we just have to move on and get on with the next game.”
Gilroy’s Louth counterpart Peter Fitzpatrick had the spooked calm of a man whose house had been eaten by Martians, but who had survived to bring word of the terror to others.
“All I can judge is I am in football a long time it is the most professional team I have seen in a long, long time. In fairness they were a machine – they were running they were hassling they were chasing. I have a few strong lads at the moment and every time they went to go for a ball there was two or three Dublin fellas around them.
“At one stage I looked around and I counted the number of fellas on the field and I thought they had 20 because they were up and down the field. I have never seen such physique, such a powerful running team ever and that’s from the goalkeeper the whole way up to the full forward line.”
Dublin’s next opponents won’t be known until next week. Longford, having beaten Wexford twice already this season, led for nearly all of the first match at Croke Park but ended up needing a Seán McCormack free to level matters at 2-9 to 0-15 in a match distinguished by Wexford wing back Adrian Flynn’s achievement in kicking five points from play.
Longford’s Paul Barden was the main provider in his team’s total with two goals, including a first-half penalty. The replay will be next weekend in Tullamore on another double bill, this time with the Meath-Carlow quarter-final.
Elsewhere, there was a 2-10 to 1-8 win in Enniskillen for 2010 All-Ireland finalists Down whose opponents Fermanagh had Daryl Keenan red-carded after just eight minutes.
Donal O’Hare and Conor Laverty got the winners’ goals, but Damian Kelly’s goal in between briefly promised an escape route for Peter Canavan’s team. But the visitors closed out the game to advance to the Ulster semi-finals.
In the Connacht championship, Leitrim put a bit of a dampener on the jubilee celebrations by denying London a first championship win in 35 years. The home side led in the second half but Leitrim overhauled the deficit to win by just one, 0-12 to 1-8.
Finally, Galway hurlers had to make do without Joe Canning and despite a 10-point victory, were forced to scramble a bit by a spirited Westmeath side, who took them for four goals before going down 5-19 to 4-12.
Westmeath’s reward is a qualifier draw against Wexford, narrowly beaten by Offaly on Saturday night, with the winners to face Carlow. In the other half of the draw, Limerick face Laois and the winners Antrim.
QUALIFIER DRAW: All-Ireland SHC
(Sat, June 23rd)
Wexford v Westmeath.
Limerick v Laois
Round One
(Sat, June 30th)
Limerick/Laois v Antrim
Wexford/ Westmeath v Carlow
(Venues etc TBA)
