Great effort by our lads today. But left ourselves with far too much to do in that 2nd half. Even though the Clare goalie made a crucial save late on to prevent an equalising goal for the Dubs.
Lots of positives for us to bring into the Leinster Championship now.
Being honest, I feared the worst at half time but thankfully we showed a lot of character in that 2nd half after being 10pts down. 2-15 to 2-05. The 2nd half scoring was much better for us 2-26 to 3-20 at FT. I thought we might squeeze a goal with that last gasp free at the end, but it wasnt to be.
Disappointed overall, our support was literally a handful. But I did not expect many more, it was Easter Sunday and as I always say every venue decision is leaned towards the Munster counties. Once it suited them............... On the game, I thought when we started to hurl we were the better side. But time and again, we seem to take 20-25 minutes to get to the pace of the match. We can get away with this v Wexford or Offaly or the 1B teams, but as we learned yesterday and v Cork in quarter final once we don't start its nigh on impossible to rescue it. I'm not a fan of moral victories or "we did well in the second half" platitudes. We didn't win the cup because we started so poorly and some of our use of the ball in the first half gifted Clare scores through the wrong option, giving the ball to a man under pressure, and then ending up fouling. I do think though when we get the ball in quick we can trouble most teams. Conor Donohoe is a real class act for me, I think he is as good a midfielder as anybody in the country. Our forwards 3 of them seem to hurl some days, I don't think we can survive against the top teams without more of a return from all of our forwards. But I think looking forward we have nothing to fear in Leinster and should really be saying anything less than winning it is a failure. Good league campaign overall, getting out of 1B was vital and playing all the top counties next year will bring these players on.
Replying To ExiledInWex: "Disappointed overall, our support was literally a handful. But I did not expect many more, it was Easter Sunday and as I always say every venue decision is leaned towards the Munster counties. Once it suited them............... On the game, I thought when we started to hurl we were the better side. But time and again, we seem to take 20-25 minutes to get to the pace of the match. We can get away with this v Wexford or Offaly or the 1B teams, but as we learned yesterday and v Cork in quarter final once we don't start its nigh on impossible to rescue it. I'm not a fan of moral victories or "we did well in the second half" platitudes. We didn't win the cup because we started so poorly and some of our use of the ball in the first half gifted Clare scores through the wrong option, giving the ball to a man under pressure, and then ending up fouling. I do think though when we get the ball in quick we can trouble most teams. Conor Donohoe is a real class act for me, I think he is as good a midfielder as anybody in the country. Our forwards 3 of them seem to hurl some days, I don't think we can survive against the top teams without more of a return from all of our forwards. But I think looking forward we have nothing to fear in Leinster and should really be saying anything less than winning it is a failure. Good league campaign overall, getting out of 1B was vital and playing all the top counties next year will bring these players on."
I didnt see the first half but I was in for the vast majority of the 2nd half. My seats were up high in the uncovered stand at the top of the small D at the city end so I had a great view of Dublins attacking play in the second half. I wont go into deep analysis but suffice to say that their decision making, hurling/first touch and execution let them down far too often. In spite of that they put themselves in a position to go on and win the match and went back into their shells. Self confidence and/or belief looked to be a significant issue for them. They pretty much killed their own momentum in the end arsing around inside their own 44 when getting out quickly and going long(at times) had gotten them back in the game. They showed what they can do last summer against Limerick but one swallow doesnt make a summer and I've seen this from Dublin far too often to be convinced that they can push on to anything other than 3rd in Leinster unfortunately. I hope they prove me wrong but I think they need to start by believing in themselves.