ANTHONY DALY IS set to take his time before deciding whether to commit to the Dublin hurling cause for 2014.
Daly’s fifth season in charge of the county senior hurling side ended in disappointment yesterday in Croke Park when his side suffered defeat to Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final by 1-24 to 1-19.
2013 was a major success story for Dublin as they ended a 52-year wait for a Leinster senior title but their hopes of landing the Liam McCarthy Cup as well were dashed.
Daly will now consult with Dublin GAA chiefs before deciding whether to take the reins for a sixth year.
“Look we’ll go away and talk about it,” the Clare All-Ireland winner admitted after yesterday’s game.
“Like we did in a hotel in the Northside there last October, myself and Andy (Kettle) and John (Costello). We trashed out the pros and cons. It wasn’t as simple as the boys saying stay on for the year.“We looked at it in every way. It won’t be that simple now either. But this is never the time to make a decision. Let’s see the way things are in the next few weeks.”
Daly revealed the level of disappointment was greater after this defeat than Dublin’s All-Ireland semi-final loss to Tipperary in 2011.
“Yeah, I think so. That day we came in the back of a good beating in the Leinster final, and winning against Limerick. But I think we expected we might win today.
“We lost by four that day, and today we lost by five. But I think there was real anticipation in the camp that we could drive on this day, and win an All-ireland.
“Now we didn’t focus on that. We focused on getting a big performance today. I think we did get that big performance.
“Just disappointed now, because the All-Ireland is a special day. I’d loved the lads to have experienced it.
“And it would have done another whole pile for Dublin hurling, to get into that day.”
Yet Dublin will be able to take satisfaction from their 2013 campaign after claiming notable silverware.
“We just feel disappointed, and heavy hearted, at times like this, but you know maybe in a few weeks we’ll be able to look back on it with a bit of satisfaction,” admitted Daly.“It was a great Leinster championship to win, no doubt about that. We’re very proud of the boys. Some lads had a great day. Like Liam (Rushe), again, what a game at centre back.
“Michael Carton was outstanding for us this year, Mr Consistency. Stephen (Hiney), what a leader all. But other lads came on and stepped up.
“Shane Durkin, when he came on, was tremendous. Peter Kelly, Corcoran, Dotsy again, what a year he’s had.”
