Dublin vTipp

[homeofhurling8]

Tipp team named last night,

G Kennedy

E Buckley
D Fanning
P Curran

E Corcoran
C O'Mahoney
Shane Maher(Burgess)

B Dunne(C)
H Maloney

F Devanney
R O'Dwyer
L Corbett

S Butler
E Kelly
W Ryan

Curran returning in place of Diarmiud Fitz who picked up an injury in the Offaly game,Maloney moving to midfield with Shane Maher making his championship debut replacing him at left half back,Willie Ryan back in the full forward line.

Shane Maher is an interesting selection,I assume Stapelton would have started but for the upcoming u-21 game with Cork as he seems to be ahead of Maher in the pecking order thus far.

Benny and Maloney at centrefield isnt a bad combination at all,they are both too loose for wing back imho,there could well be a centrefield spot up for grabs against Cork as Woodlock was poor against Offaly.

Devanney and O'Dwyer on the same line wont work.

Willie Ryan is an infinitely better option than Liam Cahill.

Tipp should have too much for a game Dublin side.

[Punxsutawney Fergal]

This is a close one to call, I always fancied that the runner up position in this group was between Tipp and Dublin! I have a sneaky feeling that a confident Dublin could cause a shock here, if the Dubds cut down on the fouls and make Tipp score from play then they have an excellent chance to win.

[tayto]

With a full team to pick from i'd say we'd a chance of a shock but with O'Driscoll now out aswell after dislocating his elbow i think we're going to struggle to keep with Tipp.

Even allowing for the return of Brennan and Smiley who are facing fitness tests this evening, they've both missed a lot of hurling and I would have serious doubts about their sharpness if they do make it.

We'll be solid at the back, with Fallon and Hiney holding the middle. Brady has bags of talent but he struggled badly on Deane [no shame in that for a younglad].

Further up the field, A lot will depend on our half forward line, I'm a bit worried about the form of Liam Ryan but he'll work his arse off, Curtin didnt get much chage out of the Cork half back line but took his frees well, Ross O'Carroll in ony his second start really grew  into the game and won a lot of ball considering the half back line he was up against, took a couple of nice scores, still he's on a steep learning curve at this level.

All in all i think we're missing too many Key players to cause an upset. Hope I'm wrong.

[bottlethrower7]

Tipp really aren't all that great, and Dublin shouldn't really have that much to be fearful of, but Dublin aren't in the best of shape themselves. Despite the injuries there has been little to be that cheerful about in Dublin's performances. Sure, there has been some outstanding individual play, most notably by Ronan Fallon and Stephen Hiney at the back, and but for these 2, things might have been a whole lot worse. The biggest disappointment has been the lack of any discernable game plan. Any tactics, other than lobbing in a high ball and hoping for the best. This was highlighted at the end of the Cork game when Alan McCrabbe mad a promising run and then looked up for someone to hand-pass off to. No one was available despite several lads standing around in the vicinity. Then theres the 'tactic' of Flynn dropping back behind midfield midway through the second half of games (he did it both against Wexford and against Cork). In the Cork game it was a ridiculous move as they were 5 points down at that stage. It is a negative tactic at the best of times, and though it can be justified if defending a lead, it makes no sense whatsoever when trailing.

I don't think Philly Brennan has been going well this year, and Ger O'Meara was very disappointing last sunday. I think Kevin Ryan should keep his spot in the corner. Though immobile, he does not lack guts or heart. Himself, Brady and Hiney are a fine full-back line. Smiley should be in for O'Meara with the rest of the half-back line unchanged. Midfield should remain as is. Up front I'm not sure what'll happen. They changed things slightly in the second half against Cork by replacing some of the bigger lads with smaller, nippier forwards (McCrabbe and Carton). I'd like the see some of these smaller lads start, and be told to try and take on their opposite numbers, especially in the case of Curran, whose bound to be a little bit raw in his first game back in ages.

Dublin are unlikely to win. I'd imagine it'll be a whole lot closer than the Cork game. Tipp will want something comprehensive out of this to try and get themselves going. Lets face it, if they can't do a job on Dublin, they'll have no business trying it on with the big guns down the road.

The Babs factor should spur Dublin on that bit more and, though I believe it will, I still think they'll come up slightly short.

[tayto]

I thought Brennan had a decent enough league. For me Smiley would've been up there with Fallon for Dublin player of the league. With the two of them fully fit an sharp I'd be a lot more confident, even though we're struggling bit further up the field. Not sure about Oualter at midfield, think he's better in the half forwards but with McCaffery out we dont have a huge amount of choice. some one was saying to me that one positive thing in the loss of Kevin O'Reilly is it has forced the selectors to rush O'Carroll through, bit of a rude introduction to senior hurling but he has coped well, with himself and O'Reilly in the half forwards in the next few years there's real potential there. McCrabbe has to start for me, even if he looked a touch off the pace when he came on against Cork, I dont know why he was off the panel but on top of the injuries it was a badly timed fall out. I'd rate him up there with the Lucan pair in temrs of importance over the next few years. With all these lads playing i'd be confident, but without them all we're struggling in a few positions.

Agree with pulling Flynner back, I thought he'd wandered back to try and get some ball against wexford but then it happened again ...

[tayto]

So McCrabbe gats the midfield role, i was critical of the u21 management playing him there but in fairness he did very well, should improve the quality of ball going into the forwards.  Qualter back at 11 where i think he's best. Dunner is better at wing back in my opinion but we're stuck for choices i suppose. Curtain is worth a shot at 14, can win ball and hasnt been doing that well out on the wing anyways. Liam Ryan cant really complain about not making it, he had a stinker against cork. having said all that the full forward line needs to improve in a big way, you'd worry that flynn will be pulled back again to try and cut off ball going to kelly.

Hurlers rejig for duel with Tipp

Dublin have made three changes in personnel and several positional switches for Saturday's All-Ireland SHC qualifier with Tipperary in Parnell Park (3.0).

Team captain Philip Brennan, who was named but did not start owing to injury for last Saturday's defeat to Cork, returns at corner-back with Ger O'Meara losing out.

Tomas Brady who began the Cork game at wing-back is named in his most customary intercounty berth of left full-back with Kevin Ryan at left half-back.

Alan McCrabbe will form a new midfield partnership with his fellow under-21 Joey Boland while in attack Keith Dunne will play left half-forward in a new look line.

Declan Qualter moves from midfield to play centre-forward with Liam Ryan losing his place while on the inside line David Curtin has been named at full-forward, moving from wing-forward, as Padraig O'Driscoll is ruled out owing to the elbow injury he picked up last in last Saturday's game.

DUBLIN (SH v Tipperary) - G Maguire; P Brennan, S Hiney, T Brady; M Carton, R Fallon, K Ryan; J Boland, A McCrabbe; R O'Carroll, D Qualter, K Dunne; J Kelly, D Curtin, K Flynn.

[Gnevin]

If Dubin play a slightly shorter ball and not waste as much over the end line they should do very well against tipp

[tayto]

Yea, some shocking wastefulness against cork, I suppose thats what happens when you're struggling to cope against a superior team, you can end up rushing what little ball you do manage to win.

[bottlethrower7]

bad game. 2 bad teams. Dublin had the better of the exchanges for a good spell, but the silly mistakes proved a killer. At least 1-3 of Tipp's total can be attributed to mistakes made by the full-back line, and came at the decisive spell in the game. Eoin Kelly going off injured when he did proved a blessing in disguise for Tipp as Hiney really struggled with Darragh Egan when he came on.

Dublin did well until they scored their goal. Then, either Tipp upped it, or Dublin stopped playing (one or the other). That was 10 minutes into the second half and the rest of the game was a turkey shoot.

One incident should be mentioned and thats the disgraceful pull by Peadar Carton on Paul Curran's head. I'm glad they caught this on camera because its the dirtiest blow I've seen in a hurling match since Joe Rabbitte was knocked out cold by Paraic Feeney. I'm not sure what Domo Connolly was at giving a yellow card. If he did nothing at all, at least he could have been properly punished by the authorities. As it is, he can't be punished any further. He should never be let play for the county again after a disgraceful pull like that.

[tayto]

Hard to know what happened after the Dublin goal. Agree there was some awful mistakes at the back including Hineys unfortunate slip for their goal, he had time to clear the danger until he lost his footing. Brady looks to have lost all confidence, after being hooked on a couple of cleareances early on he then proceeded to handpass everything even when he had plenty of time to clear down the pitch. Hopefully he'll learn from these games but he looks increasingly out of position in the corner. Brennan struggled in the second half as well, although i though he did well int he first.

Thought Dublin fought back reasonably well after tipps purple patch, O'Carroll hit the crossbar with a rasper and Carton blatantly had his jersey pulled in the box, at the end we were going for goals when we could've brought the score closer. All in all a lot to learn for dublin, some awful wides when he had good possession in the first half, in fact we should have been ahead at half time, but i felt 9 points flattered tipp, they were outplayed for long spells. The full forward line was shocking, McCrabbe played well in midfield but we need him in the corner badly, the sooner McCaffery is back the better for all concerned, hope he gets the injury sorted for once and for all and is back fully fit for the league. Quite a few players are looking out of their depth at this level the last couple of weeks, probably not all that surprising, we'll need to blood some of the up and coming players before we make real progress.

Didnt see the pull but heard it from the far side of the pitch. Hope Curran is okay.

[tayto]

having said all that 1-11 is an poor total against a les the full strength tipp.

[homeofhurling8]

One incident should be mentioned and thats the disgraceful pull by Peadar Carton on Paul Curran's head. I'm glad they caught this on camera because its the dirtiest blow I've seen in a hurling match since Joe Rabbitte was knocked out cold by Paraic Feeney. I'm not sure what Domo Connolly was at giving a yellow card. If he did nothing at all, at least he could have been properly punished by the authorities. As it is, he can't be punished any further. He should never be let play for the county again after a disgraceful pull like that.

Spot on Bt,it was an absolutely disgraceful belt,one of the worst i've ever seen on a hurling field,Paul lost four teeth and was in a right state,what in the name of Christ was the ref at only booking Carton ? Carton shouldnt be let near a Dublin team for a long,long time,there is no place for that sort of shite on a hurling field,.Babs was literally shaking with rage afterwards when talking to the press about it.

[INDIANA]

Carton's pull was a disgrace- but then again having watched O Tooles over the years it wouldn't be  surprise what some of those players get up to. Curran is a niggly player but that was a disgraceful pull by Carton if i was managing the team i wouldn't select him again. Pity because he's one of the few forwards we have that can score but there is NO place for that sort of carry on- even if he was suspended for the u21 final he'd have deserved it. As to why he did it- only he knows that-disgraceful.
I think Bottlethrower goes way over the top as usual. The reality is expecting a team comprising half full of 19-20 year olds against seasoned inter county players is expecting too much. These guys with the exception of fallon and hiney are surrounded by guys whose technical level of skill is not of the required standard for inter county hurling. Especially up front. Kevin O Reilly was a massive loss up front- mc caffrey as well and derek o reilly. We were never going to get close without them. With them i think we might have beaten Tipp and we would have beaten Wexford but looking at the draw it's just as well we didn't because we we'r not ready for those teams like kilkenny or cork and are 3 years off really competing with them.
I'm not as pessimistic as some - we have an outstanding-goalkeeper-full back-centre back an excellent midfield with boland and mc caffrey- o carroll and dunne -mc crabbe-carton and o reilly would trouble any full back line. 4-5 others off the minor team who have potential. We're a lot better off than we were 5 years ago where a bad tipp team would have beaten us by 20 points. The older players bust a gut but haven't the skills a lot of the younger guys have. But expecting a team of u21's missing 3-4 of its best players to compete with the country's best is expecting way too much.
Wjhat the weekend has shown is that cork -waterfordand kilkenny are way ahead with shag all between the rest.

[bottlethrower7]

I think Bottlethrower goes way over the top as usual. The reality is expecting a team comprising half full of 19-20 year olds against seasoned inter county players is expecting too much.

Yeah, I think Tipp's average age was 40.

[INDIANA]

fair enough -you want to be a smart arse as usual that's entirely up to you- but for the rest of us who are preparing the next generation of hurling in dublin were to listen to you too often we'd pack it up. I can actually see some semblance of a team- which is the first tiime since 1991 -that's progress in itself. We've a long way to go but we're getting there. In 12 months we've gone from barely beating Kerry- to pushing wexford and tipp and giving cork a bit of  agame and preserving our Div1 status. Surely that has to be some measure of progress.