HAS there ever been a more popular Clare man around Dublin than Anthony Daly?
Somehow Daly has masterminded Dublin's first National Hurling League title since 1939. Unbelievable when you consider that the Dublin hurlers destroyed Kilkenny by 0-22 to 1-7 in Sunday's final in front of a crowd of 42,030 at Croke Park.
Yes, there were mitigating circumstances. Kilkenny were someway below full strength and had Eoin Larkin sent off but nothing should be taken away from Dublin's remarkable achievement.
Amazingly, they have produced a team which, apart from Tipperary man Ryan O'Dwyer, is comprised of home-grown products. Considerable credit must go to the County Board.
But the key, as Kilkenny well know, is to have the right man controlling matters. In Brian Cody, Kilkenny unquestionably have one of the greatest managers of all time.
Daly has a long way to go but both he and Dublin have surely taken a major step forward. Sunday's victory, or rather the manner of it, has established them as real contenders in this year's All-Ireland campaign.
More will be know when the Dubs open their Leinster Championship challenge against Offaly at Parnell Park at the end of the month. But, for the moment, everything suggests that this Dublin outfit has what it takes to give a really good account of themselves in the All-Ireland.
There are quite a few differences from the side that promised much but ultimately failed to deliver over the last few seasons. Most obviously, confidence is at a new level but, perhaps, the most telling aspect is that way Dublin have improved in terms of their physicality and fitness.
Any team that can restrict a Kilkenny team to just 1-7 must have something going for them. And remember, just 1-1 of the Kilkenny total came from open play.
Had someone of the caliber of Henry Shefflin been around, things, no doubt, would have been different but his absence and that of Tommy Walsh, Richie Power and Michael Fennelly doesn't explain why Kilkenny were so humiliated.
The truth is that, while Kilkenny were very poor by their standards, Dublin were exceptionally good. Cody, to be fair, has argued throughout the league campaign, that they are the real deal.
"I'm not surprised at the quality of the Dublin team, not in the slightest." stressed Cody.
"I could see that for quite a while, and I've said it many times, but maybe everybody didn't believe me."
They do now. Kilkenny were simply never allowed to get going in Sunday's final, despite Eddie Brennan's 10th minute goal.
They were already in trouble when Larkin was sent off in the 25th minute for a dangerous pull on Conor McCormack. Indeed, John Dalton could have followed Larkin to the dugout for another incident involving McCormack right on half-time.
It happened after referee Michael Wadding had controversially denied McCormack a goal by blowing the half-time whistle just before he took his shot. Dalton subsequently struck McCormack but, this time, the referee took no action.
That, however, may not be the end of the matter as Kilkenny corner-back Dalton could face disciplinary action. Either way, the altercation didn't disturb Dublin in their bid to secure that long awaited title.
On another day, the situation might not have been completely lost for the 14-man Kilkenny outfit. They were 0-11 to 1-2 behind but they would have the wind at their their backs in the second period.
But this was an occasion where they were way short of their best, making far too many mistakes. Dublin, by comparison, were buzzing.
No one more so that that Tipp man O'Dwyer. He was named man of the match following a superb performance, which saw him turn up everywhere, and contributed two points.
But Paul Ryan was also outstanding, scoring 0-9, five of which came from frees, while Conal Keaney finished with 0-3. Liam Rushe had a big match in midfield, and the Dublin defence, as the Kilkenny total shows, was magnificent.
Maybe the day was best summed up by the six minutes of injury time which saw Dublin land some of the best points of the game, including one from Keaney which came from under the shadow of the Hogan Stand.
Needless to say, Daly was thrilled but equally careful not to get caught up in the hype. "Sure, we have proved that we can play against the top teams, and it's great to be National League champions.
"But we play Offaly on May 29 and we have four weeks to get ready for that. They got a bit of a kick in the league and there's nothing more dangerous than a stung Offaly man," the Dublin boss added.
"We have a job to keep the focus and learn the lessons from other Dublin teams that may have got caught up in the hype."
Limerick win Div. 2
A year after a season of dispute and failure, Limerick resumed more normal service with a 4-12 to 2-13 Division Two final victory over Clare at Cusack Park. Manager Donal O'Grady seems to have them back on the right road.
Only the Munster semi-final against Waterford in June will reveal whether they are the real deal, but Limerick fans must be delighted how things have progressed under O'Grady. They were made to fight really hard by a Clare outfit which led by four points going into the final quarter.
But a 67th minute goal from the impressive Kevin Downes proved decisive as Limerick came good in the closing stages. It is to youngsters like Downes and Declan Hannon that Limerick will look to in the future.
Between them, Downs and Hannon contributed 2-3. Limerick skipper Gavin O'Mahoney was full of praise, stating: "When they chips were down they popped up with the scores, but the most important thing is that everyone buys into the team ethic, the young fellas especially."
Clare, to give them their due, gave a decent account of themselves, but just could not match Limerick's ability to get goals.
Galway put paidto Cavan U21 hopes
UNLIKE the Dublin hurlers, there was no fairytale ending to Cavan's bid to win a long overdue title when they contested the All Ireland Under 21 Football Championship final against Galway.
Some 12,000 Cavan fans travelled to Croke Park for the county's first final at the venue in 59 years but their day ended in disappointment as Cavan were beaten by 2-16 to 1-9. Galway, quite simply, were much too good.
Effectively, the match was decided when Galway led by 2-10 to 0-5 at half-time. Any remaining lingering hopes that Cavan may have had disappeared after Barry Reilly saw his penalty saved five minutes into the second half.
Galway centre-forward Mark Hehir was named man of the match, scoring 0-7. But this was a fine team performance from a Galway outfit which has provided football within the county a much needed boost.
Unfortunately, it was a hugely disappointing day for Cavan but manager Terry Hyland believes that they can take some compensation from their efforts in winning the Ulster title. They just didn't perform on the day against a Galway side that produced football of a much higher quality.
Leinster through to European Cup final
ONLY Northampton now stand in the way of Leinster capturing their second Heineken Cup crown in three years.
After a weekend which saw Leinster get the better of Europe's most successful team, Toulouse 32-23 in the semi-final, the Irish province have been made favourites for the May 21 Millenium Stadium decider. That's only right, given the way that Leinster have progressed through to the decider.
But their astute coach Joe Schmidt will be fully aware that Northampton represent dangerous opponents. They were very convincing in beating another French outfit Perpignan 23-7 in the second semi-final.
The key for Leinster is to perform at their best. By their own admission, they weren't quite at their best in from of a near 50,000 crowd at the Aviva Stadium against Toulouse but they were still pretty damn good.
Not everything went their way. For example, within five minutes they had conceded a freak try after a penalty from David Skrela hit an upright and bounced awkwardly away from Brian O'Driscoll into the arms of Florian Fritz for a try.
With Skrela landing the easy conversion, Leinster found themselves 7-0 down against one of the most formidable sides in the world. But self-belief the will to win are not ingredients that this Leinster team is short of.
They know how to win. And last Saturday that amounted to a huge effort in a match that was played at test match level.
Leinster defended magnificently when they had to and, crucially, took their chances when they came. Out-half Jonathan Sexton, for instance, landed all eight of his goalkicks.
Six were penalties, while the other two were conversions of tries from man of the match Jamie Heaslip and Brian O'Driscoll. There was never much in it, Heaslip's try and the place kicking of Sexton leaving the sides level at 13-13 at half-time.
A further Sexton penalty made it 16-13 for Leinster, but the home side had lost O'Driscoll to the sin-bin. So, no one was that surprised when Toulouse responed with a converted try from Louis Picamoles to make it 20-16 in the visitors favour.
It was fast and furious, causing some leading Toulouse players to comment that the game was as tough, if not tougher, than a Six Nations encounter. They, in fact, felt that their side had played reasonably well.
But they just could not cope with Leinster's hugely determined effort in the final quarter. Fittingly, O'Driscoll got over for the all-important try in the 59th minute, and that combined with Sexton's goalkicking, saw Leinster home.
So, it has to be said, did the astute coaching of Schmidt. His ability to bring on substitutes at the right time had a telling effect on the outcome.
O'Driscoll commented: "We may not have been quite at our best but that game was like a test match. It had that sort of intensity."
Toulouse coach Guy Noves agreed, adding: "I have no regrets, I didn't feel we were the victim of incoherent decisions. The better team won."
Munster go down
UNFORTUNATELY, it wasn't quite the weekend Irish rugby fans had hoped for with Munster going down to a surprise 20-12 Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Harlequins at Thomond Park.
They could have no complaints, Harlequins were well worth their victory. The English side effectively won the match by scoring two converted tries within the opening 33 minutes to go 14-0 in front.
