‘We pride ourselves on our workrate’ – Ballyboden’s Robbie McDaid
By Daire Walsh
BALLYBODEN St Enda’s ace Robbie McDaid came of age at Croke Park on Saturday night, kicking 1-2 in a man of the match display for Dublin in their comprehensive All-Ireland senior football championship semi-final victory against Cavan.
Despite being stationed in the half-back line, McDaid regularly broke forward to join the vaunted Sky Blues attack and consequently helped Dessie Farrell’s men towards an ultimately convincing 1-24 to 0-12 triumph over the Ulster champions.
Speaking to RTE in the aftermath of the game, the ‘Boden man was pleased to see Dublin dealing so efficiently with the Breffni threat.
“We knew the challenge that lay ahead of us. We knew it would be a good test, a good physical battle. We came in with a plan and we felt that we executed it quite well. A lot of things to work on now. Looking forward to it, but we’re happy with the overall performance,” McDaid said.
“We pride ourselves on our work-rate. From 1 to 15, and the boys coming in, we always chase down the ball. We like to go after tackles. That’s one of our big targets and we’re hungry for it. We enjoy doing it. That gives us a good step going forward.”
A first cousin of former Donegal goalkeeper Paul Durcan – an All-Ireland winner with his native county in 2012 – McDaid is now in line to feature in his maiden Sam Maguire Cup decider at GAA HQ on December 19. Providing the opposition on the day will be old rivals Mayo, who magnificently dispatched the challenge of Tipperary on a scoreline of 5-20 to 3-13 in a foggy Croke Park on Sunday afternoon.
The pre-championship withdrawal of Jack McCaffrey from the squad left a considerable void in the Dublin defence, but McDaid’s impressive club form made him an ideal candidate for the number seven jersey. He had been on the fringes of the senior set-up for a number of years and is now beginning to fulfil the potential he displayed in the underage inter-county ranks.
Templeogue Synge Street’s Niall Scully is a more established member of this Dublin side and was making his 24th senior championship appearance on Saturday. While he didn’t add to the 1-5 he accumulated during a successful Leinster campaign, he is a virtual certainty to start Saturday week’s final.
McDaid’s club-mate Basquel enjoyed a brief cameo off the bench and played a part in setting up Dublin’s final point of the contest from Cormac Costello.
With Brian Fenton and Dean Rock in flying form, Farrell’s six-in-a-row chasing outfit built up a 0-12 to 0-7 interval buffer and continued to stretch the gap that already existed between the teams.
Dublin’s focus can now switch to a fourth All-Ireland final against Mayo in eight years – or a fifth if you include the 2016 replay. If it can scale the heights of their previous pulsating encounters, it is certain to keep the supporters of both counties glued to their televisions.