Be honest, who wouldn’t?
Diarmuid Connolly is one of the most complete footballers Ireland has ever seen. Only a fool would let him walk around the pitch picking you off without some sort of a plan to stop him.
The Dublin centre forward was up to his old tricks on Sunday, weaving a wand in the shape of either foot as the capital blew Westmeath out of the water in the second period to stretch a one-point half time lead to 15.
For a while, it looked like the Lake County had the All-Ireland champions rattled and, after a coming-together between the impressive James Dolan and the St. Vincent’s man sparked a first half melee, there were daring whispers that we could have a game on our hands in Croke Park.
Handbags in Croker. Westmeath aren't here to lie down.#GAA pic.twitter.com/yCkIeeN3mV
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) July 17, 2016
It didn’t pan out that way but, after the Dubs clinched a sixth provincial Leinster title in a row, Westmeath manager Tom Cribbin came out and bluntly admitted that they’d have liked a reaction from Diarmuid Connolly.
“Look, Diarmuid is a fabulous player. He can get a bit excited at times and probably we were looking for him to,” he had the balls to speak the truth at least.
“We have to be fair, we have to be honest: We were hoping to try and get someone to entice him, sure that’s what most teams do.
“But he’s a fabulous footballer. Just fabulous. One of the best in the country, if not the best.”
Connolly received a yellow card along with his aggressor and the party continued. Eventually.
So the points were put to Jim Gavin in his post-match press conference and he wasn’t best pleased. Even if he tried to be diplomatic as ever.
“It wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve seen it,” the Dublin manager said. “Their number seven [James Dolan] raised his hand and made contact with Diarmuid’s head. I thought the officials managed the game very well in general.
“Some of our boys reacted and spoke out to the referee and they moved the ball forward and I think they might’ve got a point from it so that’s what you want to see.
“Good decisive refereeing but we expect our players to stand up for themselves as well. Both of them got a yellow card and I think that was a fair assessment of that particular incident.”
When pushed a little further, Gavin sounded more disappointed.
“It’s certainly not language we would use,” he said. “We want our defenders to win their own individual battles but not in any malicious our devious way.
“We want to play the game the right way. Sometimes players make mistakes, we understand that and I’m sure number seven [James Dolan] didn’t mean to do what he did but that just happens in the heat of the moment.
“Diarmuid is one of our most skillful players. We’ve seen in the past, some of our skillful players being targetted. They never do complain to me and that’s one of our hallmarks, that resilience.”
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