Tyrone can beat Dublin if All-Ireland showdown goes to the wire

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

A Dublin victory against Tyrone can propel Dessie Farrell's men through the belief barrier and into All-Ireland title contention, Diarmuid Connolly insists.
Connolly was there for some of Dublin's greatest days against the Red Hands over the past 15 years - as well as for one bad horror show that preceded them.
There was the big 2011 quarter-final win on their way to a first All-Ireland title since 1985, then the 2016 All-Ireland final and the semi-final the year later during that historic purple patch under Jim Gavin.
That was a world away from when he came onto the intercounty scene and smack bang into the middle of a fierce rivalry between the two sides.
"The team I came into had a bit of a hangover about that culture," recalled Connolly. "What would you call it? The underhanded part of the game - the talking in people's ears, winding people up."
The Battle of Omagh had occurred in 2006 and there was lingering bad feeling heading into the following year. Dublin were expecting more of the same in their All-Ireland quarter-final encounter with the Red Hands.
Instead, Tyrone eviscerated them with their dominant play. "We turned up probably as the form team after a good Leinster campaign, and Tyrone went on and won the All-Ireland that year," Connolly said. "There was a lot of focus on that off the ball stuff and it never actually happened that day.
"Tyrone, they may have brought it in past games or whatever - but whatever happened that day, there was no verbals, there was no off the ball stuff. They just came out and blitzed us. They got a couple of goals off the run of play, we kind of missed a couple of half-chances, and they really steamrolled us that day.
"It was kind of an eye-opener for me. You can't have all your focus on the other team, we have a job to do ourselves and I think that took a small bit away because we were kind of waiting for something to happen from Tyrone. I don't think this Dublin team has that. I don't think that's even a part of the game anymore."
It is a different proposition now with that Gavin golden era over and Dessie Farrell's side in a period of transition. Consistency has been hard to find and their long dominance of Leinster ended this summer by Meath. Tyrone, too, are not the force they were, but they made the Ulster final.
For Connolly, a two-time All-Ireland winner with the Dubs, this one will go down to the wire and he's not confident that his county will prevail if that transpires.
"I think it will be very close at full time, it could be a draw," he predicted. "Hopefully Dublin can win it in extra time. But I think if it does go to extra time, Tyrone have the upper hand. They have a stronger bench and stronger finishing team.
"Dublin had a couple of guys that came back in the last couple of weeks but whether they have the forwards to see it out, I'm not too sure."
Connolly stresses that Con O'Callaghan is key to the Blues' hopes of success. The skipper suffered a hamstring injury in the opening championship group victory over Galway, missed the defeat to Armagh and then picked up another problem in the draw with Derry.
And, even if the Cuala star isn't fully right, Connolly maintains that Dublin can't afford to leave him sidelined on Saturday. "If he's 70% fit, I think he has to start," said the St Vincent's great.
"People say, 'oh, the stuff he does with the ball' when he has it but, for me, it's his input off the ball. We've seen it with Ciaran (Kilkenny) against Galway in that really do or die game, the first group game when we had to go up to Salthill.
"It's the way they go about going after teams. When other players see Con O'Callaghan, Ciaran Kilkenny, even Cormac Costello inside chasing down guys and putting in the hard yards, they all row in behind them.
"It's kind of a fluidity and Con in the forward line is key to that - shutting down that early kick-out, shutting down that quick transition ball.
"Yes, when he has the ball, he can make magic happen. But when he doesn't have the ball, that's really when you see Con O'Callaghan and the big Dublin players stand up."
Connolly forecasts that Dublin can rule the midfield area with the ever-improving Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne playing alongside Brian Howard rather than Kilkenny, who he wants to see further advanced.
And Connolly is praying that a two-point strategy finally slots into place for the Dubs after a summer of disappointing returns under the new FRC rules. He insists that Farrell has the players to convert from long distance.
"This is about now the real nitty-gritty stuff, the one or two percent extra, and this is what we want to see from the management team from Dublin, can they come up with something a little bit different," Connolly asked.
"I like what Paddy Small was doing the last day, standing up his man and really going at it. He just needs a little bit more belief and he can break through that barrier. Similar with Cormac Costello, he's getting to the pitch of it, but he's not doing it for 70 minutes. And we need that consistency.
"If we're going to be a top team, we need consistency along that forward line and I'm hoping it's there, but we've yet to see it for 70 minutes. I'm hoping they can pull something out on Saturday."
Diarmuid Connolly was speaking exclusively to BoyleSports as a Gaelic Games ambassador ahead of the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals.