DUBLIN hero Conor Burke reckons they will need to find another gear to oust Cork from pole position in the race to land Liam MacCarthy.
The bookies fancy the Rebels for All-Ireland SHC glory after the Dubs dumped previous favourites Limerick out of the Championship.
That stunning quarter-final victory over John Kiely’s side was hailed in many quarters as the biggest shock in the history of hurling.
Burke delivered a man-of-the-match performance as Dublin defied the first-half dismissal of captain Chris Crummey to advance to a first All-Ireland semi- final in 12 years.
Reflecting on the two-point defeat of Limerick, Burke said: “I think there’s good confidence in the group and there was a sense of momentum building, so everyone was delighted.
“Obviously we went into it with the expectation that we’d be able to cause an upset.
“Saturday is going to be a step up again. Cork are the in-form team. They’re the league champions, Munster champions and they’re obviously the team to beat right now.
“So we’re under no illusions that we need to bring it up a gear and up a step if we want to beat them.”
Not since 1961 have Dublin contested an All-Ireland senior hurling final.
But an even longer gap must be bridged if they are to end the wait to reach the season’s showpiece fixture — it has been 98 years since the Dubs tasted a Championship victory over Cork.
Burke also took home the man-of-the-match prize after the teams met in last summer’s All-Ireland quarter-final.
But Dublin’s accuracy deserted them on a day when the Leesiders emerged 0-26 to 0-21 winners in Thurles.
The St Vincent’s midfielder recalled: “I suppose there was a sense of missed opportunity. It was our shooting efficiency that let us down.
“I wouldn’t pinpoint it on maybe just one individual. I think I myself had a 50 per cent conversion. I scored four points and I missed four.
“So even from that side of things, it wasn’t just one person who missed shots that maybe they should have scored or whatever the case might be.
“I think that performance will give you confidence that you’re able to compete and kind of push them as far as we did even last year.”
SKY BLUE BOSS
For Dublin, the five-point loss to Cork turned out to be Micheál Donoghue’s last match in charge. His departure just over six weeks later was seen as a major blow.
However, by guiding his side to a seismic win over a team that won five of the last seven All-Irelands, successor Niall Ó Ceallacháin has already justified his appointment.
All-Star nominee Burke said: “Nelly is brilliant. He’s a great manager, really well organised. He has a brilliant team of Dublin clubmen behind him.
“He’s brought that great team with him but there’s a great sense of unity there within the team.
“Everybody’s playing for him as our leader from Dublin. He’s leading the way and everybody’s kind of got behind him and put the shoulder to the wheel and is really pushing hard.”
Ó Ceallacháin was a thorn in Burke’s side last October when the current Dublin gaffer steered Na Fianna to a county semi-final win over Vincent’s after extra-time.
Aside from Pat Gilroy’s brief stint in the hotseat in 2017, Ó Ceallacháin — who also led the Mobhi Road club to All-Ireland success last January — is the first Dub to manage the Sky Blues since the 2008 exit of Tommy Naughton.
Asked about the importance of having one of their own at the helm, Burke said: “I think there’s a lot of personal connection with Nelly there.
“The Na Fianna lads have been playing under him for a number of years and they know him really well. He knows the club scene really well.
“But I think there’s a sense of unity to get behind him and the others on the management team, who are Dublin-based as well, to put the shoulder to the wheel and really believe in what they’re trying to do and get behind it.”
The last piece of major silverware claimed by Dublin came in 2013 when they were crowned Leinster champions. An All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Cork was to follow.
But Sky Blues fans will hope a long-awaited dose of revenge is dished out at Croke Park on Saturday.
Burke said: “There’s obviously resilience in the panel and lots of hunger, most importantly. I think that’s why we keep coming back — we want silverware.
“There’s not many in the panel that were on the last Dublin team that tasted silverware, so I think there’s hunger to keep coming back and I think that’s coupled then with belief.
“There’s a lot of belief that there’s huge talent in the dressing room and that if we can bring the levels of performance that we know we’re capable of, we can put it up to any team on any given day.”
l CONOR BURKE was speaking as eir announced a major milestone in its network transformation – Ireland’s No 1 5G Network Availability award for the fifth year in a row. As the first operator to launch 5G at Croke Park in 2020, eir continues to enhance the matchday experience for fans and players alike.
