Ah the All Ireland Quarter Finals, the graveyard of Champions as it is widely known. Will it be a graveyard for Dublin this Saturday or merely a stepping stone to bigger business? Monaghan stand in the way of a fifth straight semi final appearance for the men from the Capital. The shouts from the dogs in the street are Blanket Defence, Blanket Defence. True, if our Northern counterparts try to go toe to toe with us theres only going to be one winner so expect Saturday nights proceedings to be less than pretty. That is, of course, if Dublin dont stake an early advantage. If Dublin can break down the Ulstermens defensive ring of steel early and, dare I say it, get a run on Monaghan then the Croke Park announcer and large screens may aswell send out the Plan B orders as Monaghan will be in trouble. As weve seen numerous times in the past, a blanket defence wont work if the team employing this tactic find themselves on the back foot early as they are drawn out and find themselves chasing the game. Monaghan will have to be very disciplined and at the top of their game to stop a blue and navy monsoon early doors, but the question is will they have these requirements after Saturdays energy sapping extra time win over Kildare in atrocious conditions? Who knows, maybe they will. But do they have the fitness and discipline to shut out this free scoring Dublin team for 70 minutes? I doubt it. Jim Gavins men are the human equivalent of the Duracell Bunny, theyll just keep running and running at you until eventually you crack. Throw in the fact that we have the most star laden bench in the country, where the player being called ashore is replaced with a player of equal ability against an opposition defender no doubt running on empty and you soon realise the mental aswell as physical impact this must have on opposing teams. An example - just imagine, youve just spent 50 minutes trying to contain Bernard Brogan and just as the legs and mind are tiring on comes the human wrecking ball that is Kev Mc in his place. This is an insight into the nightmare that every team looking to topple The Dubs faces. At the other end of the field, have Monaghan got the artillery and firepower to cause the Dublin defence problems? If it was this time last year Id have said yes. But Dublin seem to have learned some of the lessons from last year. With each game this Championship, the scores against column has been falling. Yes it seems the Dublin rearguard is becoming the Gaas own version of Ebeneezer Scrooge which spells bad news for the Farney men. Which leads us to the one thing that could see Dublins Summer end in tears, a well worn trait of beaten defending All Ireland Champions, that big word HUNGER or lack of it. Have this much decorated Dublin side got the hunger, desire and focus for the job in hand? From speaking to many of the players I would have to answer that question with an emphatic YES! This is one really serious and driven group of players, a team that feels it has dates with both destiny and history. And they have a management team thats the best in the business, a management team that sets extraordinarily high standards for the players and themselves and expects these standards to be met. Theres no room for passengers in this Dublin set up and the players know this. I cant see Dublin taking their eye off the ball at this stage, this team is a totally different animal to the 2012 model. Saturday night wont be easy by any means. Expect Monaghan to dog it out for as long as possible. It probably wont be pretty but Jim Gavins troops wont mind as long as they are in the post match winners dressing room. I expect our bench, pace, fitness and experience to prove decisive, especially in the closing twenty minutes, as this Dublin collective continues its journey to the third Sunday in September. Dublin to win by 5+ . #Barry
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 20:47:25 +0000
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