Surprisingly, the Dublin vs. Westmeath game goes ahead at 2:15 p.m. with the Kildare-Wexford game starting at 4. Normally the Leinster Council give Dublin supporters plenty of time to get from the pubs to Croker, but on this occasion television coverage rules. RTE will be showing the Dublin game first, followed by the Munster hurling semifinal between Tipperary and Waterford in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. So with the Hill not yet ready, we should have a full house at Croker on Sunday.
Dublin haven’t won the All-Ireland senior football title since 1995, but being the capital city there is always great pressure on the metropolitans to deliver some silverware. Indeed, club football is so strong in the county that it has often been suggested that Dublin field two teams, one comprising northside players and one of southside. True, the senior club football scene in Dublin is highly competitive, but it is also backboned by several intercounty players from outside of the Pale. Dublin manager Tommy Lyons had a honeymoon season in 2002 when he took Dublin to the All-Ireland semifinal, and was unfortunate to go out when Ray Cosgrave’s late free bounced off the upright. But last year he made some bad calls in the All-Ireland quarterfinal against Armagh.
Lyons, who was born in Mayo, has never really been accepted by some Dubs, partly because he never played football at the top level. He did well at club level with Kilmacud Crokes and did a brilliant job with Offaly when he went there first. But Lyons’s magic seems to rub off after the first year and everybody knows that this will be his last with Dublin, unless they bring back Sam.
Goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton, who was sent off against Armagh last year, is suspended and Kerry-born Brian Murphy is expected to deputize. Dublin have failed to find a reliable free-taker, but they have been very quiet in recent weeks, adopting a low-key approach and we just don’t know what to expect on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Westmeath were lucky enough to overcome Offaly in the first round. The arrival of P