Senior hurlers left to rue missed opportunity

Mon, 4th June 2018

While Dublin’s impressive Leinster SHC victory over Offaly on Sunday ended any fears of relegation, overall the Dubs were left to rue a missed opportunity.

Pat Gilroy’s men, who face Galway in a dead-rubber game this Saturday, went very close to upsetting the status quo by defeating both Kilkenny and Wexford in their opening two games.

“It’s disappointing,” says manager Pat Gilroy. “We’ve been motoring well since the middle of April.

“You’re starting to pick up a bit of momentum and now it’s over but that was in our own hands.

“We were ahead on 71 minutes in two games (versus Kilkenny, Wexford) and then to lose them, we have to learn from that and push on for next year.”

Pat has suggested that the round-robin format needs a tweak or two before next summer.

“I think, like ourselves, Offaly have progressed this year. Now to drop down a level, I don’t think it’s going to bring on hurling for them. It’s very harsh/

“To be fair to Offaly, to get four games in-a-row, they weren’t going to be that fresh and once things started to turn there, you could see they were flagging.

“I think the round-robin thing is brilliant but certainly, these things can be changed.

“And I’d be all in favour of somebody coming up all right and trying to make the championship bigger and bigger if you can.”