Dublin's lack of goal threat against Westmeath is a worry, says Kieran Donaghy
Dublin are through to the Leinster Championship semi-final against Laois, after an 11-point victory over Westmeath on Saturday night - but for just the second time in 23 championship games, they failed to score a goal
Monday 9 November 2020 12:12, UK
Dublin got their championship campaign up and running with a routine victory over Westmeath on Saturday night, although Dessie Farrell's charges failed to raise a green flag.
The Sky Blues put the game to bed early, with a string of points. However, the inside forward line didn't threaten many three-pointers, instead picking off points for a 0-22 to 0-11 win.
According to Sky Sports pundit Kieran Donaghy, the Dubs' inability to find the net in Portlaoise is an issue for Farrell.
"In the Jim Gavin era, this team struck fear into everybody," argued the Kerry native at full-time.
"You looked at a score-line after a game and you saw 3-28 to 0-7. Every time you watched Dublin, you were saying 'they're going well'.
"0-22 to 0-11, even though it's a convincing win and it was comfortable, there was more ruthlessness in Dublin before. They always tagged on two or three goals. They only had one goal chance [against Westmeath], and that was always a hard chance.
"They never opened them up. Even though they were chipping on points, and they were playing against a bit of a blanket. But even still, over the last four or five years [they could score goals].
"They're not striking fear in [teams] like they normally would. Honest to God, they're normally like, 'goal, goal, goal'. It puts fear in teams."
'They could have got goals at any time they wanted'
Jim McGuinness took a different view to Donaghy.
"For me, I think they didn't need to score any goals," said the 2012 All-Ireland winning boss.
"The reason for that was they settled into the game very, very quickly. They got scores on the board early. They got into their rhythm very, very early. It was almost like the last number of years. The way they were playing, the way they kept the ball, the way they could find space, inject pace, kick points.
"I just think that if they needed to score goals there, they could have got them at any time they wanted. That's not being disrespectful to Westmeath. It's just the way the game panned out, they were in a flow and they didn't need to do anything other than what they did."
I think they didn't need to score any goals.
And Peter Canavan was in full agreement.
"I think Dublin had goal opportunities, and they were happy enough to take points," concurred the 1995 Footballer of the Year.
"They won that game well within themselves. They didn't want to reveal their hand or do too much. To me, it was difficult to read too much into it.
"The likes of Paddy Small wanted to get on the ball at every opportunity. He was trying to impress. He's maybe one player who is not guaranteed his position. He's got Paul Mannion looking over his shoulder. Ciarán Kilkenny kicked a point at one stage, Paddy thought there was a goal chance on and you could see him being disappointed that he didn't get it.
"But apart from him and maybe [Seán] Bugler, the rest of them went through the motions. They know that there is bigger fish to fry."
'It's a marker laid down for the rest of the championship'
McGuinness was thoroughly impressed with the ease in which the Sky Blues went about their business.
"I spoke to a lot of people in Donegal about the kick-off to the championship. And so many of them have said to me they think Dublin are going to get caught this year, that someone is going to beat Dublin this year. It's almost like a general consensus before the championship started," he said.
"There was just no sign of that whatsoever [on Saturday]. It was just so smooth, the way they went about everything. They were in second-gear all night. Whenever they needed to do anything, they were able to do it.
"The way they were able to keep the ball, and the way they moved the ball, the decision-making, and they've got people who can kick scores all over the pitch.
"It's a marker laid down for the rest of the championship. I know we talk about it all the time, but their conditioning is phenomenal as well. There's nobody bigger than them, there's nobody faster, and there is nobody more powerful.
"Then you add in on top of that the skill-factor, they've got people who can pop up and kick scores."
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