Sport

Johnny Dooley

Club: Seir Kieran

Wed Sept 06 2000 - 01:00

Club: Seir Kieran

Age: 28

Height/weight: 5ft 11ins/12st 7lbs

Championship debut: v Dublin 1991

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Major honours: All-Ireland SHC 1994 and '98; Leinster SHC 1994, '95; NHL 1991; Leinster U21 1989, '91 and '92; All Star 1994 and '95.

Eamonn Cregan's analysis

"Johnny Dooley has been playing extremely well and is particularly good going forward. He might be a bit suspect defensively in that he doesn't always funnel back when he hasn't the ball but I'm sure the selectors have been working on that with him. Ger Oakley impressed me in the second half against Cork. When the older players weren't going very well, the younger guys showed what they were made of."

Player's view

"I suppose we are own worst enemies in a way. Any time a lot is expected of us, we seem to go out and get hammered by 12 or 14 points. Like, last year in the Leinster final, we were half fancied and Kilkenny were just boring holes through us. And I honestly can't explain why, everything had been going well for us. Maybe it was just a revenge thing from the All-Ireland the previous year. Then when we are written off, we often put in good displays. So it's hard to figure out.

"Of course we were a bit lack-lustre in the (this year's) Leinster final and things weren't going that well for us. But we have this belief in ourselves and that's the most important thing. The heart is still there."

Opponent's View:

Kevin McNaughton (Derry manager)

"I was impressed with Ger Oakley, for a relative newcomer and against Cork he was brilliant. Very strong and good with the first-time ball. At the end of the day it was Johnny Dooley who beat us. Oakley got through a lot of work but Dooley's the one who makes things happen. He picked up every loose ball. He's so sharp on the break and a great reader of the game. Oakley sets up the play but Dooley can score from 50 or 60 yards. I think Kilkenny should mark him tight. He won't be as effective with someone sitting on him. We had no one to mark him without changing the team completely around. Kilkenny won't give him the room he got against us."