Defiant 13-man Dublin earn dramatic reprieve

Dublin 2-20 Galway 0-26AET – 2-15 to 0-21 after normal time. WHAT AT times in the first half resembled a scrappy rugby match ended up in a welter of excitement in O'Connor Park, Tullamore yesterday, as first Galway and then Dublin completed unlikely escapes from relegation.

This play-off concluded with a wealth of story-lines and a replay (next Saturday in Portlaoise at 4pm, with the All-Ireland under-21 football semi-final between Dublin and Cork at the same venue at 2pm).

For Galway, the return of Joe Canning after injury was a major lift for a side that had slid into demotion territory after a big defeat in Kilkenny. Canning was fitful in the first half, but, in the second, he switched to centre forward and rifled over 10 points, half of them from play including a bravura sequence of three in injury-time to tie up the match and send it into an additional 20 minutes.

Dublin looked down and out.

Dismayed to be taken to extra-time, they then sustained the double blow of losing Ryan O’Dwyer within a minute and Alan McCrabbe 10 minutes later to straight red cards, both for striking, which rule both out for the replay.

Faced with the seemingly impossible task of closing a two-point gap in the second half of extra-time while short two players and with both of their free-takers off the field, Dublin conjured a great act of resistance to level the match with late points from replacements Daire Plunkett and Niall McMorrow, whose last-gasp 65 was nervelessly hit over to keep the holders in with a chance of saving their status if not their title.

There was additional relief for manager Anthony Daly in that O’Dwyer’s possible two-match suspension – the red card could be a repeat infraction within a 12-month period – will now be served by the time of the Leinster semi-final, should the county win their first round game.

Daly and counterpart Anthony Cunningham agreed that the extra competitive match would be excellent preparation for the championship, but differed on the role of referee Barry Kelly, who let an awful lot go yesterday.

“Some of the decisions were just hard to believe, fellas with the hurley wrapped around them after catching a high ball and play on. Where’s your advantage?” said the Dublin manager afterwards.

Cunningham, however, was more emollient, saying, “I couldn’t comment really. I thought Barry had a good game, but as we’ve seen in our five or six league matches now, it’s swings and roundabouts.

“The game is getting far more physical, it ebbed and flowed – a few frees we thought we might have got early on and didn’t, then later on you might get the rub of the green. I wouldn’t have anything against referees. I have the height of respect for them.”

It’s saying something that Canning had a credible opposing candidate for Man of the Match. Niall Corcoran, ironically a Galway man, was exceptional in the Dublin full-back line, helping the team overcome a nervous opening period in defence, cleaning up and clearing with calm authority.

Peter Kelly came into the match at full back for Dublin and a great barnstorming run down the left wing was a signal for the team to make what looked like a significant break in the final 15 minutes.

Goalkeeper Gary Maguire made critical saves in the opening minutes from Cyril Donnellan, twice including a rebound, and Damian Hayes, placed by a wonderful ball from Canning.

Dublin bucked the trend of the match by being more efficient in taking goals. Having edged a nervy first half 0-9 to 0-7, largely courtesy of Paul Ryan’s free-taking, they went five ahead in the 39th minute when Conor McCormack’s finish beat rookie goalkeeper Fergal Flannery.

The score appeared to inspire Galway more than Dublin and a run of five points, all but one from Canning, levelled the match. Liam Rushe had been redeployed to centre back to shore up a half-back line under unanticipated aerial pressure.

Ross O’Carroll capped an afternoon of hard graft by crashing in the second goal in the 57th minute but again Dublin struggled to close out the match. With a minute to go, O’Carroll dug out a chance for John McCaffrey to send the team three clear but the late Joe show kept a crowd of around 4,000 in Tullamore for an extra half hour.

So on the centenary of a legendary sinking, both teams stayed afloat – for another week anyway.

DUBLIN: G Maguire; N Corcoran, P Kelly, R Treanor; P Schutte, J Boland, S Durkin; M Carton, J McCaffrey (0-1); C McCormack (1-0), R O'Dwyer, L Rushe; R O'Carroll (1-0), D Sutcliffe (0-3), P Ryan (0-9, 8f, 1 65). Subs: S Lambert (0-1) for Treanor (25 mins); D Treacy (0-1) for O'Dwyer (48); A McCrabbe (0-1, 65) for Carton (56); O Gough for Schutte (60); N McMorrow (0-3, 1f, 1 65) for McCormack (65); M Quilty for Boland, O'Dwyer for McCaffrey (both 70 mins); D Plunkett (0-1) for Ryan (76); P Carton for O'Carroll, E Dillon for Treacy (both 85).

GALWAY: F Flannery; K Hynes, D Collins, G O'Halloran; N Donoghue, F Moore, T Regan; D Burke (0-1), B Daly; C Cooney (0-1), N Burke (0-5, 4f), C Donnellan (0-2); D Hayes (0-2), J Canning (0-12, 6f), D Glennon (0-1). Subs: J Coen (0-1) for Donoghue (31 mins); I Tannian for Daly (half-time); J Regan (0-1) for Glennon (56); P Brehony for Cooney (59); B Burke for N Burke (68); J Glynn (0-1) for B Burke (85); P Shiel for Hynes (88).

Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath).