By Rory Houston - @RTESundayGame
Dublin boss Anthony Daly paid tribute to his players for their performance against Tipperary on Sunday, but admitted he was “sick of moral victories” after missing out on the All-Ireland final by a handful of points.
The Dubs were beaten 1-19 to 0-18 by Tipp in an exciting battle in Croke Park, quashing notions that it would be an easy afternoon for the Premier.
Daly said he was always confident his side would put up a respectable challenge to the reigning champions.
He said: “We felt we had a chance ourselves. It was almost the best position, bar the injuries. We would have loved to have the lads available.
“The more injuries that were occurring, the less chance people were giving us. In a peculiar way it was maybe strengthening our resolve that we were going to give a great performance.
“We set out to do that. We said we would let the scoreboard take care of itself if it could. Unfortunately it didn’t and maybe Tipp’s experience and decision-making at crucial times defined it. I think we had 21 shots at goals to their 12 in the first half and a handy enough goal early on settled them.
“But I couldn’t be prouder of the lads. It was a Trojan effort. I’m sick of moral victories in semi-finals to be honest with you. I’d love to get to the final for a change.
“But I suppose it will be a great final and people will be writing down Tipp now. They were writing down Kilkenny last week so we’ll what happens.”
Prior to the game Daly spoke of a hope that it wouldn’t be a repeat of the Leinster final earlier in the year where Dublin were outclassed and outfought by the Cats.
He revealed the loss to Brian Cody’s men was used as motivation to make sure Dublin hurling was well showcased on their biggest day in decades.
“We were very disappointed with the Leinster final. Credit to Kilkenny but we felt we didn’t do ourselves justice on the day. We had a fierce battle with Limerick and we were thrilled to get over the line there. We just said today (Sunday) we weren’t going to come in and be beaten in the parade like we did in the Leinster final.
“The lads to a man, and every sub that came in, absolutely fought like tigers. It was hard for Tipp as well to score seven goals the last day where everything went their way and have five weeks off. It has been a relatively successful season for us from the depths of despair last year after losing the Antrim game.
“There is a lot there for Dublin hurling to build on. The minors had a great win today and are into the final. The under-21s are in the semi-finals next Saturday so there is so much to look forward.
“At the same time days like this don’t come along too often and you have to try and take them. We just felt short today unfortunately.”
After winning the Walsh Cup, the Allianz League and securing a last four place in the All-Ireland, it is fair to say Dublin have made huge strides this campaign.
Daly admitted it has been a good return but couldn’t help reflecting on what might have been.
“At the start of the year if you had handed me what we got I would have taken the hand off you. But when you’re out there and there is two points in it with eight or nine minutes to go and there is a chance to play in the biggest day in the sporting world, well I thought there was a great chance.”
