A Double Header Of Dubs In Store At Croke Park On Saturday

Croke Park is the place to be this Saturday when Dublin's hurlers and footballers take to the stage at the GAA's headquarters.

Mattie Kenny's hurlers are first up when they face a Wexford (5.0) side buoyed by their victory over Kilkenny last weekend.

The Dublin manager knows his players will have to be at the best if they are to overcome Davy Fitzgerald's men.

“Wexford and Clare coming up in the next two weeks. We’re getting a run-out in Croke Park next Saturday night, so I’m sure the surface will be tip-top there," said Mattie.

"That’s going to be something the lads are really looking forward to ... Wexford are going really well at the moment, so that should be a really, really good test for us.”

The Dubs will look to drive on now in their league campaign following back-to-back victories over Laois and Carlow.

“You do feel it’s in two different stages; and it’s three games straight from here,” said Chris Crummey.

“We know this is the serious part of the league, to really bring the strong part of our performance to this part.

“But we’re really looking forward to it. We feel our panel is in a great place, and since I’ve been involved I think it’s the strongest in personnel, and we have a great management in place."

Dublin and Wexford clashed in the Leinster championship over the last two seasons, with Wexford winning in 2018 (0-22 to 2-14) while last year’s tie was drawn (Dublin 1-22 Wexford 2-19).

After a losing opener against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park Dublin have won their last two games against Laois and Carlow, putting in a strong second half display last Saturday evening to defeat the Barrowsiders, 0-20 to 0-9, in Netwatch Cullen Park.

The Dubs and they Slaneysiders have operated in differing HL groups in recent seasons but played out a stirring draw in last year's Leinster SHC round-robin.

Seán Moran was Dublin's late, late savior as his goal from a 20-metre free with the last puck of the clash in the fifth minute of added time earned his side a share of the spoils (1-22 to 2-19) at Parnell Park.

The Dubs led by five points at one stage of the second half, however, the Slaneysiders rocked their hosts with goals from Liam Og McGovern and Jack O'Connor and looked set for glory in the final moments.
However, Seán Moran's low free, following a foul on Liam Rushe, found its way to the Wexford net despite the presence of seven Slaneysiders back on the line.
The previous summer Wexford recorded a 0-22 to 2-14 victory over Dublin in their Leinster SHC round-robin clash at Wexford Park.

Dublin were edged out in a frenetic finale as hosts Wexford hit three points in added time to claim victory.

The Dubs had come with a storming finish to nose in front 2-14 to 0-19 as the game ticked into added time but through two Rory O'Connor points - one free and the other a monstrous 90-metre point from play - and an insurance score from Harry Kehoe Wexford sealed victory.

The Slaneysiders looked to be getting on top by the midpoint of the second half as they moved into a 0-16 to 1-9 lead and then Alan Nolan pulled off his second fine save of the encounter to deny Rory O'Connor, a goal then might have sunk Dublin but back the Dubs came with a Cian Boland score.But from the 24th minute of the second half Dublin raised their game with a Paul Ryan free and three minutes later the Ballyboden St Enda's clinically finished to the net to make it 0-18 to 2-11.
Points from Liam Rushe and Danny Sutcliffe put the Dubs in front for only the third time in the game, 2-13 to 0-18, by the 66th minute.
The influential Rory O'Connor levelled it for Wexford with a 70-metre free in the final minute of normal time before Dublin sub David Treacy fired over from a tight angle to give his side the lead again.
But similar to their previous round loss to Kilkenny the late vital scores all came from the opponents with O'Connor and Kehoe getting the winning scores.

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With only one point separating seven of the eight counties after three rounds, FL Division 1 looks set to be competitive to the very end.

Dublin (4 pts) are the only unbeaten team as they prepare to take on Donegal (3 pts) in Croke Park (7.0). It will be the first meeting between the two counties since 2018 when Dublin won twice, 0-20 to 0-15 in League Division 1 and by 2-15 to 0-15 in the Super 8s.

Donegal’s last win over Dublin was in the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final (3-14 to 0-17). Since then they have met seven times in League and Championship, with a draw the sole source of comfort for the Ulster side among Dublin’s six wins.

Dublin's two games to date in Croke Park have provided plenty of thrills and spills.

Last time out a David Byrne equalising point in the tenth minute of added time saw Dublin complete an incredible comeback to snatch a draw (1-15 each) with Monaghan.

Dessie Farrell's men trailed by ten points late in the first half, nine at the break, and nine still as the clock hit 60 minutes.

Yet they drove on relentlessly, led by the likes of James McCarthy, and were rewarded by outscoring their opponents 1-7 to 0-1 from then to the final whistle.

The Ballymun Kickhams man's will to win and physicality was central to Dublin's revival while he also slotted one fine point from play with the outside of his right boot that clipped the inside of the left upright at the Hill 16 goal before going over.

The Dubs got plenty of impact off the bench with Kevin McManamon scoring Dublin’s goal with Seán Bugler kicking three points from play and Colm Basquel one as well as having a key role in the late, late equaliser.

McManamon's goal illustrated his instinct when after miscuing a 'garryowen' into the danger zone he followed in and gambled on the ball being broken goalward with Bugler getting up highest to bat the ball to the St Jude's man who illustrated a poacher's instint to sidefoot past Rory Beggan.

It was a massive, timely lift for the Dubs as they hunted down their opponents over the close of this 'game of two halves'.

The last time the counties collided in league action was in February 2018 when Dublin prevailed 0-20 to 0-15 in Croke Park.

Dublin had to show all their big game experience to edge out Donegal and maintain their 100pc start that year's Football League 1 campaign.

Dublin led 0-11 to 0-5 at half-time after an impressive first half showing and despite extending that advantage they had to hold off a rampant Donegal fightback as the Ulster men twice got to within a point.
It was Dublin, however, who had the final word as they sparked back to life late on to close out the game by kicking the last four points to secure victory with Paul Mannion and three subs - Eoghan O'Gara, Ciarán Reddin and Paddy Small, off his less favoured right foot, all on target.
Many of the players who could feature on Saturday night would have come face-to-face at U21 level also when the counties met in the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final.

The rivals U21 camps were managed then by their current senior managers now - Dessie Farrell and Declan Bonner.

Dublin under-21s put in a superb display to overcome a highly-rated Donegal (1-13 to 0-9) and progress to that year's final, when they defeated Galway.

Dessie Farrell's side came with a tactical game that worked brilliantly as they stymied Donegal's high-paced counter-attacking game that had paid rich dividends in their successful Ulster campaign, the final of which only took place the previous Monday night.

Dublin also lost Con O'Callaghan to a fourth minute black card but their work-rate and attitude ensured that they were not rocked by the loss of such a talented forward and team co-captain while midfielder Andy Foley had to be replaced in the 23rd minute owing to injury.

Players such as Evan Comerford, Cillian O'Shea, Eoin Murchan, Con O'Callaghan, Seán McMahon, Brian Howard, Aaron Byrne, Colm Basquel, Darren Gavin, Dan O'Brien and Andy McGowan - who have represented Dublin at senior level in recent seasons - featured for Dublin's U21 against Donegal in that All-Ireland semi-final success.

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Hurling League Div 1B

P W D L For AG Diff Pts

1. Clare 3 3 0 0 1-62 0-38 27 6

2. Kilkenny 3 2 0 1 7-56 1-43 31 4

3. Wexford 3 2 0 1 3-58 3-48 10 4

4. Dublin 3 2 0 1 4-56 5-47 6 4

5. Laois 3 0 0 3 4-42 6-62 -26 0

6. Carlow 3 0 0 3 0-32 4-68 -48 0

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DUBLIN SENIOR HURLERS

NATIONAL LEAGUE: Scoring Chart

Dublin have scored 4-56 and conceded 5-47 in their three HL Division 1 Group B games to date (v Kilkenny, Laois, Carlow). Fourteen players have contributed to the scoring tally.

Oisín O'Rorke 1-16 (0-13f, 0-1 '65')

Seán Moran 0-9 (0-6f)

David Keogh 1-4

Rian McBride 0-6

Eamonn Dillon 1-2

Paul Ryan 0-5 (0-4f)

Ronan Hayes 1-2 (0-1f)

Chris Crummey 0-3

Donal Burke 0-2

John Hetherton 0-2

Daire Gray 0-2

Jake Malone 0-1

Danny Sutcliffe 0-1

Tomás Connolly 0-1

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HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 1 GROUP B ROUND 1

SUNDAY, JANUARY 26: Nowlan Park, Kilkenny

KILKENNY 3-21 DUBLIN 0-18

SCORERS - Kilkenny: A Murphy 0-8 (0-6f, 0-1 '65'), B Ryan 2-0, G Aylward 1-0, P Deegan, C Fogarty, W Walsh, N Brassil 0-2 each, J Donnelly, M Keoghan, L Scanlon, M Carey, B Sheehan 0-1 each. Dublin: O O’Rorke 0-6 (0-4f), S Moran 0-4 (0-3f), R Hayes (0-1f), E Dillon 0-2 each, D Sutcliffe, C Crummey, R McBride, T Connolly 0-1 each.

KILKENNY: E Murphy; C Wallace, H Lawlor, C Delaney; M Cody, P Deegan, M Carey; C Fogarty, A Murphy; J Donnelly, W Walsh, R Leahy; B Ryan, G Aylward, N Brassil. Subs: M Keoghan for Aylward (45), J Maher for A Murphy (52), T Walsh for Cody (56), B Sheehan for Ryan (60).
DUBLIN: A Nolan; P Smyth, Eoghan O’Donnell, J Madden; C Crummey, D Gray, C O’Callaghan; F Whitely, R McBride; T Connolly, D Sutcliffe, R Hayes; C Boland, O O’Rorke, E Dillon. Subs: S Moran for Whitely (31), M Schutte for Boland (40), L McMullan for Connolly (57), J Hetherton for McBride (65).
REF: P O’Dwyer (Carlow).

HL DIVISION 1 GROUP B ROUND 2

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2: Parnell Park

DUBLIN 4-18 LAOIS 2-17

SCORERS – Dublin: O O’Rorke 1-7 (0-6f, 0-1 ‘65’), D Keogh 1-2, S Moran 0-3 (0-2f), E Dillon, R Hayes 1-0 each, D Burke, J Hetherton 0-2 each, J Malone, R McBride 0-1. Laois: W Dunphy 2-1, R King 0-6 (0-5f), S Bergin, C McEvoy 0-2 each, E Rowland (0-1f), J Kelly, P Purcell, J Ryan, E Gaughan, A Dunphy 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: S Brennan; P Smyth, E O’Donnell, C O’Callaghan; C Crummey, D Gray, J Madden; S Moran, J Malone; M Schutte, D Sutcliffe, D Burke; E Dillon, R Hayes, O O’Rorke. Subs: D Keogh for Dillon (inj, 12), J Hetherton for Schutte (inj, 31), F Whitely for Madden (47), A Dunphy for O’Callaghan (inj, 38), R McBride for Sutcliffe (inj, 60).

LAOIS: E Rowland; L Senior, P Delaney, D Hartnett; D Conway, R Mullaney, C McEvoy; J Kelly, F Fennell; R King, P Purcell, J Ryan; A Dunphy, W Dunphy, S Bergin. Subs: J Lennon for Mullaney (ht), R Broderick for Senior (57), E Gaughan for A Dunphy (57), J Keyes for Purcell (61).

REF: D Hughes (Carlow).

HL DIVISION 1 GROUP B ROUND 3

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15: Netwatch Cullen Park, Carlow

DUBLIN 0-20 CARLOW 0-9

SCORERS – Dublin: P Ryan 0-5 (0-3f, 0-1 ‘65’), R McBride 0-4, O O’Rorke 0-3 (0-3f), S Moran (0-1f), D Keogh, C Crummey, D Gray 0-2 each. Carlow: M Kavanagh 0-6 (0-4f), JM Nolan 0-2, D English 0-1 (0-1f).

DUBLIN: A Nolan; P Smyth, E O’Donnell, J Madden; S Barrett, S Moran, D Gray; J Malone, C Crummey; J Hetherton, D Burke, R McBride; R Hayes, M Schutte, O Rorke. Subs: C O’Callaghan for Barrett (ht), D Keogh for Schutte (ht), P Ryan for O’Rorke (51), A O’Neill for McBride (blood 64-71), F Mac Gib for Burke (68), A Dunphy for Madden (69).

CARLOW: D Jordan; R Smithers, P Doyle, M Doyle; R Coady, D English, G Bennett; K McDonald, A Amond; J Kavanagh, P Coady, JM Nolan; C Tracey, M Kavanagh, T Joyce. Subs: S Whelan for R Coady (inj 17), C Abbey for Jordan (inj, 48), Dean Tobin for Smithers (59), Dara Tobin for P Coady (62), T Daly for Amond (71).

REF: T Walsh (Waterford).

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Football League Division 1

P W D L For AG Diff Pts

1. Dublin 3 1 2 0 3-45 2-42 6 4

2. Tyrone 3 2 0 1 1-39 2-34 2 4

3. Galway 3 2 0 1 5-33 3-38 1 4

4. Donegal 3 1 1 1 5-34 4-28 9 3

5. Monaghan 3 1 1 1 2-43 2-40 3 3

6. Kerry 3 1 1 1 2-47 3-44 0 3

7. Mayo 3 1 1 1 3-30 3-35 -5 3

8. Meath 3 0 0 3 3-21 5-31 -16 0

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FOOTBALL LEAGUE: Scoring Chart