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Post by Mickmack on Aug 15, 2021 13:43:58 GMT
Any update on the injured Mayo player Mcloughlin the wing back Looked like he was knocked out or concussed at a minimum It's reported elsewhere that he's in hospital with a broken jaw. The brother Paddy Small did his best to break another Mayo players jaw too.
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Post by southward on Aug 15, 2021 14:18:25 GMT
"Sensational Mayo end Dublin's All-Ireland dominance in semi-final thriller at Croke Park" - headline from the Indo and such is the narrative generally around yesterday's game. Am I the only one who doesn't buy into this?
At the risk of sounding churlish, Mayo looked really poor for most of the game only to be the beneficiaries of an inexplicable second-half Dublin collapse. All-in-all, I thought it was a third-rate game of football and a really low standard for the occasion, exciting finish notwithstanding. Dublin beat themselves as much as anything else imho.
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greengold35
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Post by greengold35 on Aug 15, 2021 14:29:06 GMT
"Sensational Mayo end Dublin's All-Ireland dominance in semi-final thriller at Croke Park" - headline from the Indo and such is the narrative generally around yesterday's game. Am I the only one who doesn't buy into this? At the risk of sounding churlish, Mayo looked really poor for most of the game only to be the beneficiaries of an inexplicable second-half Dublin collapse. All-in-all, I thought it was a third-rate game of football and a really low standard for the occasion, exciting finish notwithstanding. Dublin beat themselves as much as anything else imho. This was a poor game for about 55 mins - Dublin managed to let a 5 point advantage after 61 mins, slip away - nothing sensational about it at all.
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Post by gaelicden on Aug 15, 2021 15:04:51 GMT
"Sensational Mayo end Dublin's All-Ireland dominance in semi-final thriller at Croke Park" - headline from the Indo and such is the narrative generally around yesterday's game. Am I the only one who doesn't buy into this? At the risk of sounding churlish, Mayo looked really poor for most of the game only to be the beneficiaries of an inexplicable second-half Dublin collapse. All-in-all, I thought it was a third-rate game of football and a really low standard for the occasion, exciting finish notwithstanding. Dublin beat themselves as much as anything else imho. This was a poor game for about 55 mins - Dublin managed to let a 5 point advantage after 61 mins, slip away - nothing sensational about it at all. As long as the hype machine stays with Mayo now, that's all that matters. Allows Kerry (or Tyrone) to enter into the Final fray on a low profile. The past 24 hours have been Mayo this, Mayo that, Mayo for Sam the other, can they go on and win it now hububala. That's the perfect way for the media to be at rather than hyping up the Kingdom.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 15, 2021 15:12:09 GMT
"Sensational Mayo end Dublin's All-Ireland dominance in semi-final thriller at Croke Park" - headline from the Indo and such is the narrative generally around yesterday's game. Am I the only one who doesn't buy into this? At the risk of sounding churlish, Mayo looked really poor for most of the game only to be the beneficiaries of an inexplicable second-half Dublin collapse. All-in-all, I thought it was a third-rate game of football and a really low standard for the occasion, exciting finish notwithstanding. Dublin beat themselves as much as anything else imho. This was a poor game for about 55 mins - Dublin managed to let a 5 point advantage after 61 mins, slip away - nothing sensational about it at all. I have never seen a pretty coup d'etat
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Post by boherbee on Aug 15, 2021 15:12:34 GMT
"Sensational Mayo end Dublin's All-Ireland dominance in semi-final thriller at Croke Park" - headline from the Indo and such is the narrative generally around yesterday's game. Am I the only one who doesn't buy into this? At the risk of sounding churlish, Mayo looked really poor for most of the game only to be the beneficiaries of an inexplicable second-half Dublin collapse. All-in-all, I thought it was a third-rate game of football and a really low standard for the occasion, exciting finish notwithstanding. Dublin beat themselves as much as anything else imho. This was a poor game for about 55 mins - Dublin managed to let a 5 point advantage after 61 mins, slip away - nothing sensational about it at all. I don’t think the “Sensational” reference is referring to the quality of the football, more about the occasion really.
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dano
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Post by dano on Aug 15, 2021 15:36:48 GMT
I was on a Dublin forum last night to have a look at what they were saying. Many glad it wasn't Kerry! I think last night was Mayo's All Ireland. Congratulations to them. They suffered enough from Dublin over the 6 in a row games. Kerry had their chance in '19 draw and didn't take it. There has been some media hype over Kerry winning games for fun lately. Let that hype be on Mayo now and leave Kerry and Tyrone battle out the other semi when Tyrone are ready in 2 weeks. Any other scenario, like a free pass to Kerry to the final will be seen as insensitivity on The Kingdom's part. There are people all over Ireland now willing on Mayo. Such sentiment will be overblown altogether if Kerry don't offer more time to Tyrone. I know this is not being asked of them but as winners of 37 All Irelands They should make this gesture. Kerry have the team to beat Tyrone and Mayo and they can do it by a cricket score in both games.
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Post by breadwinner on Aug 15, 2021 16:27:50 GMT
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Post by Kingdomson on Aug 15, 2021 19:17:21 GMT
Conor Lane cannot be left next or near the All Ireland final or indeed any top inter-county match again. Where was his duty of care to the players? Yes, refereeing is a tough gig but incompetence to protect players should not be tolerated by GAA.
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Hicser
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Post by Hicser on Aug 15, 2021 20:38:12 GMT
Absolutely horrendous decision by the ref, First off it was clear that the player was injured, the collision was immense and he fell to the ground motionless. The game should have been stopped and medical attention requested immediately, thats basic regardless if he missed the contact to the head,
So we must assume both linesman and referee missed the contact to the head, in that case I guess they can't do anything else except to say they made a mistake and should not be considered for big matches again,
There needs to be some duty of care by the player coming in with the big hit, John Smalls elbow was up and made contact with the head, it was a Red card offence at minimum. He needs a strong ban for his actions,
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Post by taggert on Aug 16, 2021 7:38:29 GMT
Absolutely horrendous decision by the ref, First off it was clear that the player was injured, the collision was immense and he fell to the ground motionless. The game should have been stopped and medical attention requested immediately, thats basic regardless if he missed the contact to the head, So we must assume both linesman and referee missed the contact to the head, in that case I guess they can't do anything else except to say they made a mistake and should not be considered for big matches again, There needs to be some duty of care by the player coming in with the big hit, John Smalls elbow was up and made contact with the head, it was a Red card offence at minimum. He needs a strong ban for his actions, Had it been shoulder to shoulder it would have been a perfect hit but as it was shoulder to head, definitely not so. Paddy Smalls straight arm to the neck/throat was also very dangerous; James McCarthys off the ball dunt yo a Mayo mans head in normal time also looked bad. Aidan O'Sheas incursion worthy of a red to me - subs coming on the field of play for skirmishes is an absolute no no. Lane was abysmal in my view and kept Dublin in it when their failing minds and legs gave rise to complete ill discipline.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 16, 2021 8:29:48 GMT
Éamonn Fitzmaurice: This isn't the day to dance on Dublin's grave but...
MON, 16 AUG, 2021 - 08:29 Eamonn Fitzmaurice Éamonn Fitzmaurice For the first time since 2014, we get to parse and analyse an All-Ireland final not featuring Dublin. The game needed the change. While that may annoy Dublin supporters, their unprecedented success in the intervening years has robbed us of one of the most important elements of sport — unpredictability.
When they won the first of their six-in-a-row in the rain in 2015, back-to-back All-Irelands were considered an incredible achievement. Dublin have rewritten the record books. During those years, to beat them (as I well know), a team had to deliver a note-perfect performance, or else Dublin’s quality and athleticism would win out. In the end, of course, it had to be Mayo to deliver the knockout blow. Regardless of who comes through from the other side of the draw when the Covid-related issues are eventually resolved, it is going to make for some All-Ireland weekend and final.
I wrote here on Saturday that for Mayo to win, they would need to keep a clean sheet and would need to disrupt Dublin’s possession game by pushing up aggressively in the faces of the Dublin backs to put them under pressure. Both requirements were fulfilled, if not exactly as I would have envisaged them.
For the first quarter, Mayo played Michael Plunkett as a permanent sweeper in front of their full-back line. James Horan was possibly guarding against the early concession of a goal and was looking to avoid a well-worn pattern from previous encounters. However, it played into Dublin’s hands. While there were no clear-cut goal chances, Dublin went into possession mode, had men free in the middle third as outlets, and worked some scores. Ciarán Kilkenny’s point after Dublin held onto the ball for over a minute and a half was a perfect example of this.
Mayo were also getting turned over too easily in that first quarter, with Dublin scoring five points from turnovers. After that first water break, with Mayo trailing by four points, they reacted and dispensed with the permanent sweeper. It improved matters, and they got a foothold in the game, but their accuracy up front was letting them down. In the first half, they converted only four out of 10 shots, with some poor wides among those.
It was interesting that both teams struggled into the Hill 16 end with only eight of the 31 points across the course of the contest scored at that end. While there was a breeze coming from the Hill, it wasn’t any trickier than normal.
As the teams went down the tunnel at half time, it looked to many as if it was going to be another one of those days for Mayo, but I felt they were still very much in it for two reasons. Firstly in the Connacht final they only got going in the second half, and they are at their most dangerous when they have to throw caution to the wind. Secondly, Dublin’s patchy form meant they had yet to put a full 70 minutes together this season. While it wouldn’t have been overly surprising if they emerged and continued from where they left off, I felt there was doubt until proven otherwise.
Mayo turned the game on its head in the second half by really hounding the Dublin backs when they had the ball. It took away their possession game and turned the match into a frantic up-and-down-the-pitch battle which suited Mayo’s young legs, rather than the ‘keep possession’ stroll that Dublin wanted. Mayo scored an amazing eight points from turnovers in the second half, which must be some kind of record against Dublin. The Mayo crowd got behind them, and the energy around Croke Park was palpable. Meanwhile, Dublin’s accuracy deserted them when they just needed to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Their fabled third-quarter charge was absent as astonishingly they failed to score, registering four wides.
I felt at the time there was another factor at play — Dublin’s conditioning. While this has long been one of their greatest strengths, they were out on their feet early. The first Dublin player to go down with cramp happened in the 46th minute. I can’t remember seeing that before. The more frantic and unstructured the game became, the less it suited them. They longed for a period of possession to take the sting out of the match, but Mayo, to their immense credit, wouldn’t allow it. Enda Hession made a massive difference when introduced, and his pace and direct running, along with that of Matthew Ruane, punched holes and kept Dublin pinned in. Mayo were simply fitter and more athletic than Dublin, which is a serious validation of Horan’s sports-science team.
Pádraig O’Hora and Lee Keegan were heroic in their defending throughout, but particularly in the second half and throughout extra time. Tommy Conroy and Ryan O’Donoghue came of age and proved that they had learned and improved from their first All-Ireland final appearance last December.
Credit to Robbie Hennelly for converting the 45 at the end. While he had kicked well, it was a massive moment, particularly with the drama around the re-take. The kick was directly in my eyeline, and took me back to the Gaelic Grounds in 2014 when Henneally also had a kick in my line of sight, from further out, to win the All-Ireland semi-final replay at the end of normal time.
He connected perfectly, and I watched as it sailed between the posts and thought: ‘Really?’
Thankfully it came up short that day, but Hennelly embodied the power of perseverance on Saturday as he buried that memory, and many more besides, as he emerged as one of the heroes.
The Aidan O’Shea substitution was a big talking point after the match. To me, it was a non-issue. O’Shea had a poor game, and needed to be replaced. His status as captain and a senior player in the group is irrelevant. For Horan it is clear and as it should be — perform, or step aside.
Today isn’t the day to be dancing on Dublin’s grave. They have been fantastic champions and they will be back. While they have caused me plenty of pain, I was always able to acknowledge their brilliance and appreciate and admire the big personalities that always delivered. The last time they lost a championship game in 2014, they fixed their issues. I don’t think they have the same quality of player available to them this time though.
As well as the talent now-departed they have been shorn of some huge personalities, players who thrived in the clutch such as Diarmuid Connolly, Jack McCaffrey, Michael Darragh McCauley, Paul Flynn, and Bernard Brogan. They will be back, but they are no longer a distance ahead of everyone else.
I felt all this season that they were on the wane, and reasoned that all of the departures simply meant they couldn’t be as strong. What I was surprised by though was some of the normally impeccable management of their off-field distractions. I think this is something Dessie Farrell will look at when he reviews the season. The Covid breach was a serious own goal and was plain wrong, the Cluxton saga dragged and dragged, and some of their dealings in the media, normally so stage-managed, amazed me.
Philly McMahon spoke in the build-up to the game about needing to consult with management about whether or not to travel to Greece with Bohs for their Europa Conference qualifier match. Surely that would have been an in-house discussion weeks in advance? Kevin McManamon was in Tokyo with the boxing team and mentioned in an interview over there that he would see if he could try to break into the squad when he got back. After missing the entire championship did he really expect to get into the squad so easily?
Their sideline was chaotic at times during the second half and during extra time on Saturday. In fairness to Farrell, he was quite calm, but there was a lot going on. The media manager, Seamus McCormack, was prominent and seemed to be involved in a lot of discussions. Is that his brief? Over the course of the summer, many of the Dublin players seemed to have a louder and more prominent presence on social media than before. Had they taken their eye off the ball? Had profile become more important than performance? It is human and natural, and they have been phenomenal to maintain their standards for so long with such success.
This defeat will hurt though and will ground them again.
Unfortunately for Mayo, Sam Maguire wasn’t handed out on Saturday and they will have to go and do it all again. They will be well aware that the last time they beat Dublin in 2012, Donegal beat them in the final, and so the victory over the Metropolitans counted for nought in the end.
If Kerry eventually come through the other side on August 28, the two form teams in the country will be going head-to-head. From a Kerry perspective, I would have preferred Dublin as I think Mayo are the only team that can match Kerry’s legs and athleticism. If it materialises, it really will be a case of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object.
Of course, Tyrone may yet have something to say about all of that.
- Thanks to Johnny Bradley and RTÉ for the statistics.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 16, 2021 8:43:02 GMT
Premium Swagger rises from the dead to turn ill-disciplined Dubs into zombies
Eamonn Sweeney 2 August 16 2021 02:30 AM Dessie Farrell’s Dublin banjaxed themselves by embracing the ghost of Swagger.
Remember Swagger? Back in the Tommy Lyons and Paul Caffrey days this trademark combination of flamboyance and arrogance was regarded as Dublin’s defining characteristic.
It made them irresistible when on top but prone to falling apart when things went wrong. Swagger ran up big scores in Leinster but came up short in All-Ireland quarters and semis.
Then it disappeared. Completely. It was as though Jim Gavin decided to eradicate it from the Dublin football character. The word itself became an obsolete relic of days gone by. Like ‘Bling’ or ‘Bebo’ or ‘Buying a holiday home off the plans in Bulgaria’.
Under Gavin, the Dubs radiated a new sense of seriousness. Their ability to keep their mind on the job made them football’s greatest ever team in close finishes. Calm, intelligent, modest and exuding military precision, Dublin became a reflection of their manager’s personality.
Read More Strong mind and body helping to make O’Hora a new kind of Mayo hero The loss of those qualities helps explain why on Saturday a side which less than nine months ago won a sixth consecutive All-Ireland title in a row with ease were dethroned by the very opposition they’d outclassed in last year’s decider.
The most striking thing about the semi-final was Dublin’s meltdown when Mayo turned up the heat. How did the long unbeaten run end with something so uncannily reminiscent of noughties humiliations by Kerry and Tyrone?
ADVERTISEMENT Swagger played its part. Take Dublin’s new obsession with holding on to the ball for extraordinary lengths of time.
One side-effect of Swagger was a tendency to occasionally lapse into taunting the opposition, as Caffrey’s team did against Laois in a Leinster final. This year’s interminable sessions of ‘keep-ball’ were hardly motivated by a desire to rub it into the other team. But the tactic became sufficiently gratuitous to assume a certain ‘Leeds make fools out of Southampton’ quality.
And isn’t there a certain arrogance too in thinking you’ll get away with a tactic so unprecedented it verged on changing the entire nature of the game?
In the end, the possession strategy ended up backfiring so spectacularly on Dublin, it’s unlikely we’ll ever again see any team go the same route.
For one thing it lets struggling opponents off the hook. That’s what happened in the National League when the Dubs had Kerry on the rack before retreating into a possession-based shell and allowing their rivals to storm back for a draw.
An out-of-sorts Mayo appeared similarly vulnerable for the first three-quarters of Saturday’s game.
But once more Dublin opted to hang on to the ball rather than go for the jugular when the opposition was there for the taking.
ADVERTISEMENT The other big problem with the new style was that its extreme deliberateness practically wiped out Dublin’s goal threat. A Mayo side who’d conceded five goals in their two previous championship games against the Dubs were never in danger of a similar outcome.
Dublin leave this year’s championship with just two goals from four matches, their lowest total in 23 years.
Swagger had its dark side. A conviction that the opposition were merely bit players in your movie could lead to an angry reaction if they had the temerity to put up a fight.
Gavin changed that too. Culchie jealousy notwithstanding, the six-in-a-row side was not a dirty team. Its discipline was one of its most impressive features.
Yet since Gavin’s departure Dublin have been more prone to get involved in the kind of niggly stuff they largely eschewed during his reign.
This culminated on Saturday night with one of the worst collective losses of discipline from a major team ever witnessed in Croke Park.
That’s even without taking John Small’s hit on Eoghan McLaughlin into consideration. It was desperately dangerous and should have brought a red card but Small’s decision was a split-second one.
ADVERTISEMENT More indicative of a general attitude were the three black cards for Colm Basquel, Tom Lahiff and James McCarthy in extra-time, David Byrne’s off-the-ball foul on Kevin McLoughlin which could have brought another black, Paddy Small’s reckless challenge on James Carr and the last-second felling of Diarmuid O’Connor by McCarthy. Topping it all were Philly McMahon’s interference with the ’45 which gave Rob Hennelly a second chance to put Mayo level at the death and McCarthy’s pointless and blatant impeding of Aidan O’Shea as the Dubs launched a last-ditch high ball into the Mayo goalmouth.
These things happen when a team loses the collective rag. The Swagger habit of treating resistance as a personal insult was evident on Saturday night.
It wouldn’t have happened on Gavin’s watch.
By the end Dublin had buckled. Like Napoleon’s Grande Armee on the retreat from Moscow a once-invincible fighting force had become a rabble to be picked off by its enemies.
It was a sad end, not least because Dublin lost touch with the better angels of their nature this season. A case in point is their embrace of the blanket defence after rejecting it for so long.
Nothing summed up the lunacy of a side with Dublin’s firepower adopting this approach like the sight of Con O’Callaghan contesting a high ball with Aidan O’Shea on the edge of his own square. Why?
O’Callaghan is perhaps the most dangerous forward in the game yet spent much of the year playing far too deep to be a major threat.
So did Cormac Costello. Did they really need to be utilised as auxiliary defenders? On Saturday, this policy merely drew forward a set of Mayo backs who are probably as formidable an attacking force as the team’s official forward line.
ADVERTISEMENT 2021 was the year this Dublin team forgot to be themselves. Instead they reverted to the bad habits of an inglorious past.
The Swagger zombie rose out of the grave and bit the champions on the neck. By the end Dublin were The Walking Dead.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 16, 2021 8:52:56 GMT
Premium Farrell will face inquisition but there are deeper reasons for Dublin’s demise
Frank Roche
August 16 2021 02:30 AM How can this earthquake qualify both as one of the greatest shocks in modern football history and a demise you could have predicted if only you had sifted through all the evidence beforehand?
We had just witnessed great champions unravel before our disbelieving eyes, then realised – with 20-20 hindsight – that all the warning signs were there. After 45 games unconquered, Dublin have returned to the land of mortals. In the last 38 of those matches, they had always scored more than 0-14. But not here, not even with 20 additional minutes.
They had more black cards in extra-time (three) than points (Seán Bugler’s lonely effort). From half-time onward they had more yellows (five) than points (four).
How could this happen? To Dublin, of all teams? There are, in truth, myriad reasons that long predate Saturday’s 6pm throw-in.
Mental fatigue, after almost seven years on the treadmill, is one very likely reason. And who can blame a group who have known nothing but relentless success?
Brian Fenton and John Small along with a clutch of younger colleagues had never lost a championship match. Ciarán Kilkenny’s only previous defeat came on his full debut nine years ago – against Mayo.
Fenton, Kilkenny and Small (for all the arguments over his shuddering hit on a blindsided Eoghan McLaughlin) were three of Dublin’s better performers … but even they weren’t immune from blame in a collective implosion after half-time that saw previously serene champions morph from conservative to panic-stricken and ultimately to an undisciplined mess.
ADVERTISEMENT Empires crumble and it isn’t always edifying when it happens. So be it; Dublin will dust themselves down because they must, even if the focus on Dessie Farrell is sure to be forensic and unsparing.
Jim Gavin faced a similar inquisition after his swashbuckling ways were shredded by Jim McGuinness.
The irony now is that much of the criticism of Farrell will stem from the suppression of those very gung-ho instincts.
Their four goals against Kerry in May are a fading memory: Dublin only raised two green flags all summer, both against Meath, and were goalless in three outings.
Moreover, bar Colm Basquel’s miss after Conor Lane allowed play to continue after the Small/McLaughlin collision, did they ever genuinely threaten one on Saturday?
A tactical shift towards risk-averse ball protection has, without question, sucked much of the spontaneity out of Dublin’s attack.
It’s fine when it keeps a deep-lying Kildare at arm’s length – but when facing a hyper-manic Mayo team that threw off the shackles, the veneer of control disappeared.
ADVERTISEMENT As it did, spectacularly, when Evan Comerford was penalised for dithering and then that horror-show bout of ‘keep ball’ in their own square culminated in David Byrne being tackled over his end-line for the fateful ’45 that Rob Hennelly nailed at the second attempt.
As the manager/fall-guy, Farrell will shoulder plenty of blame for squandering a seven-point lead, especially as it echoed a recent trend of surrendering the initiative against Kerry in the league and Meath last month.
But there are deeper issues at play here. The absence of so many blue-chip attackers – either one-time starters like Paul Mannion or legendary finishers like Kevin McManamon – has been compounded by the incalculable loss of Jack McCaffrey’s X-factor incursions from deep.
Dublin, once the fastest team on Planet GAA, have become pedestrian – to a point where Mayo held them scoreless in the third quarter. We struggled to recall when this had last happened. But if you rewind to July, you’ll find 16 barren minutes against Wexford and two second-half famines against Meath of 14 minutes and close to 20.
Much was made in advance about Farrell’s bench: a return of 0-1, two wides and two black cards doesn’t even fully encapsulate the poverty of Dublin’s Plan B.
We can only speculate on whether their Covid training breach upset the equilibrium of a group that used to be models of cohesion. What is undeniable is that player departures either side of ‘Innisfailsgate’ further weakened them.
Comerford had been a model of calm for the opening hour … it was only when Mayo scented vulnerability and pressed even higher that you got a sense of Stephen Cluxton’s loss. The kings of game management had been hoist by their own petard.
The future, once blue, is mired in uncertainty.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 16, 2021 9:20:25 GMT
Malachi Clerkin
On one level, there is very obviously no crisis to be declared in Dublin football. Of the players who featured against Mayo on Saturday night, 14 were experiencing their first ever defeat in a championship game. If you think this is a problem, then your wallet is likely too small for your 50s and your diamond shoes are too tight.
Of their core lieutenants, only James McCarthy, Mick Fitzsimons, Dean Rock and Jonny Cooper are over 30. Fitzsimons and Philly McMahon are the only members of the whole panel over 31. If you were building a team for a tilt at the 2022 All-Ireland, there are infinitely worse places to be starting from.
And before they tumble headlong into a future that guarantees nothing but promises plenty, it’s only right that everyone should pause and recognise what they achieved. The only six-in-a-row by a men’s team in the history of the GAA. The only five-in-a-row, come to that. A run of 45 games unbeaten stretching across six and a half seasons. And even in the end, when they were a shadow of themselves, it still took extra-time to beat them.
Yet nobody who has watched them through this championship can be in any way surprised that this is how it ended. The signs were there all the way along. They were there in how they looked so listless against Wexford, in how Meath kept them scoreless for 27 minutes, in how Kildare outgoaled them in the Leinster final, the first time that had happened to them since 2001.
For long spells of the first half against Mayo, their players showed that they have a greater grasp of the fundamental skills of the game than the opposition This was their third goalless game of the summer. That hasn’t happened since 2007. Back when men were men and the Dubs could be relied upon to go so far and no further. They lost to Kerry that year, like they always did. This defeat doesn’t set them back to those days but it does mean the winter is likely to bring about a fairly stern rethink of who they are and how they go about things.
“We’re always in a state of transition,” Dessie Farrell said on Saturday night. “Players come and go and that’s been the case. There’s been a significant amount of that over the last two seasons. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next season. I’m sure some individuals will reflect on where they’re at and can they go again.
New blood “It’s not easy to keep going to the well. That will be a decision for some individuals. There’s a lot of new blood in there as well that need time and need exposure and I’m sure there’s a lot of fellas who will be looking forward to getting that kind of time in the national league whenever that comes around.”
All is clearly not lost for Dublin. For long spells of the first half against Mayo, their players showed that they have a greater grasp of the fundamental skills of the game than the opposition. The contrast between the composed, pristine point-taking of Ciaran Kilkenny and Dean Rock with the hurried, raggedy shooting of Aidan O’Shea and Tommy Conroy at the other end was stark.
And when Mayo stood off them - “only pressing up in ones rather than in twos and threes”, as James Horan put it afterwards - the Dubs were able to keep the ball and circulate it with impressive cohesion and ease. Both of Kilkenny’s first-half points came this way, at the end of long spells of possession.
It has become Dublin’s signature move. So much so that you’d half wonder if their smarter opponents are happy enough just to let them at it now. After all, if Dublin are on top for three minutes and they spend it all in the pursuit of just a single point, isn’t that better than them trying to score 1-2 off it? Like they used to?
Nobody has seen all this up close more often or to more chilling effect than Mayo, of course. It’s only two years since they went from two points up to eight points down in the space of 12 minutes against Dublin in an All-Ireland semi-final. The way Dublin play now, that sort of blitzkrieg just isn’t something they go after.
They went through the 2021 championship playing seven goalless halves of football plus two goalless periods of extra-time. They’ve stopped doing the right thing under pressure in front of goal. Their two goal chances on Saturday night were butchered by blinkered shooting, with Colm Basquel in normal time and Cormac Costello in extra-time looking for glory instead of laying off the last pass for an easy finish for a teammate.
The Dublin that won six in a row had long since erased that sort of nonsense from their game.
On their worst day, they can’t really fall out of the top three or four in the country. Cry them no rivers And of course, the biggest change from the glory days is the complete lack of impetus from the bench. For the third time in four games, Dublin’s substitutes were outscored by the opposition’s. In the whole of the 2021 championship, they have sourced a grand total of 0-5 from their replacements. The days of inter-county quality arriving fully formed on the Dublin panel seem to be over, for now at least.
They will come again, naturally enough. The dice are loaded too heavily in Dublin’s favour for them not to. On their worst day, they can’t really fall out of the top three or four in the country. Cry them no rivers.
But they have things to address now. The Stephen Cluxton situation needs to be clarified and brought to a conclusion one way or the other before the winter is out. Phone calls to Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion will have to be made, whatever their hope of success.
Farrell and his backroom team will presumably be fine to carry on into 2022 but you wouldn’t be betting a lot on 2023 if next year ends the way this year did. New faces aren’t as crucial to the enterprise as a new way of playing.
“Dublin supporters, by and large, still remember when there was a dearth of success in this county,” Farrell said afterwards. “That’s not too long ago. I’m sure they appreciate what’s gone on in the last number of years.
“I’m sure they’ll afford the team and these players whatever level of patience or courtesy is going to be needed over the next period of time. Who knows what lies ahead? While there’s transition and the team continues to evolve, there’s still a lot of good young blood in there.”
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 16, 2021 9:28:43 GMT
John Divilly:
MON, 16 AUG, 2021 - 06:00 John Divilly John Divilly After a decade of wonderful entertainment by the Dublin empire — where they set the standard, won All-Irelands and set previously unimaginable records — they’ve been ousted spectacularly from the 2021 championship at the penultimate hurdle.
Mayo have been a pebble in Dublin’s sandal over the last decade — annoying, constant and refusing to go away.
This time Dublin caved via a combination of unforced and forced turnovers. The unforced errors and turnovers from Dublin stunned their support into silent disbelief. Some of them had never seen a Dublin meltdown before and few believed it would unfold before their eyes after their impressive first half.
Dublin were ignoring pre-match mumblings that they were on a downward trajectory, and Mayo fell into their old habit of trying to contain their nemesis. They were failing miserably as Dublin produced a highly functional performance, playing with width, patience, composure, and scores. They were tackling crisply and suffocating Mayo every time they tried to meander through the middle.
The normally assured Mayo defence looked chaotic and disorganised. Eoghan McLaughlin badly needed his bike as Dublin’s best attacker, Paddy Small, was giving him the run around. Ciaran Kilkenny was three for three off his arch-nemesis, Lee Keegan.
Most managers would have panicked and whipped McLaughlin and Keegan, off but not James Horan. He earned his crust with some crucial introductions and re-deployments.
He made the first of his many courageous decisions with the introduction of Enda Hession to man-mark Small. Hession was colossal and showed all the natural attacking flair that’s embedded in the DNA of so many Mayo defenders.
This released Eoghan McLaughlin to the half-forward line, where he could concentrate on carrying the ball at speed and foul smarter, higher up the field, as his earlier fouls had handed Dean Rock some easy tap-overs.
Next, he redeployed Padraig O’Hora to shackle Kilkenny.
Slowly Mayo stopped the rot and started getting their coveted vital turnovers and decided to start playing their game.
Taking O’Hora off Con O’Callaghan was risky as O’Callaghan can ignite a game with a side-step, but the risk paid off in spades as neither Kilkenny or O’Callaghan scored again in the match.
Then the Big Move — giving the captain the curly finger.
The announcement “Aidan O’Shea to the bullpen” shocked a few Mayo diehards, who must have thought that the fourth official misinterpreted Horan’s intentions. No time for sentiment. Mayo needed something fresh inside as Big Aidan didn’t have the radar in tune when it came to turning his marks into scores.
While his replacement James Carr also missed some glorious chances, his movement and pace opened up more space for Tommy Conroy and Ryan O’Donoghue, especially Conroy.
Finally, the redeployment of Conroy to centre forward at the beginning of extra time put the finishing touches to Horan’s tactical redraw as Conroy blitzed through a tiring Dublin defence.
Last December, in the 2020 All-Ireland final, Eoin Murchan succeeded in nullifying the threat Conroy posed. On Saturday, Murchan was keeping a tight reign on Ryan O’Donoghue and the wily Mick Fitzsimon was curtailing Conroy. Conroy could have easily been withdrawn, but Horan stood firm with his young gun. Unfortunately for Dublin, Murchan retired due to injury in the 67th minute.
The Mayo management team spotted a potential mismatch and realigned Conroy to centre forward and introduced Darren Coen to the inside line. Conroy (0-2) and Coen (0-1) delivered.
Ironically, for the second game in succession, the opposition failed to score in the third quarter against Mayo. They threw caution to the wind in the second half and played their game.
What’s ‘their’ game? They press the opposition kick-out, they force turnovers, they drive forward relentlessly from deep, they create at least 30 scoring opportunities and they never give up. Their intensity and doggedness was typified brilliantly by Diarmuid O’Connor’s acrobatic volley to keep the ball in play from an almost certain missed 45 by Robert Hennelly. The Dublin defenders assumed it would sail harmlessly wide, but O’Connor launched himself fearlessly at the ball and kept it in play. Kevin McLoughlin picked up the scraps and fired it over to keep Mayo in the game.
However, it was really Dublin keeping Mayo in the game. It’s hard to remember when they looked so void of attacking flair and fluidity; when they tried to blast two glorious goal opportunities instead of flashing them across the parallelogram and unselfishly palm them in; when they only created one scorable free in the second half; when they tried to balloon Hail Mary’s into the square in search of goals; when they squandered so much possession and coughed up turnovers; when game-management let them down so dramatically in the dying moments, which resulted in the equaliser; when they were so ill-disciplined and picked up several black cards (and should have more only for some questionable refereeing decisions).
Indeed, some were horrendous. It’s mind-blowing how over 20,000 people can see when yellow cards should be black ones. Do referees genuinely not bother listening to linesmen; or are linesmen, umpires and fourth officials not trained to communicate through technology.
It is time for the referee assessors to organise some refresher courses.
It’s also timely for Mayo to reflect on those first-half woes. Kerry or Tyrone may not be as generous in the final.
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Post by Lolly Valance on Aug 16, 2021 10:08:12 GMT
Well done to Mayo but, to be honest I thought it was a shocking match. 31 points in 90 mins off football is terrible scoring even allowing for the conditions.
While mayo played well in the second half I think their comeback owed as much to Dublin falling apart as it did to the upswing in Mayo's performance. From half time on the Mayo full backline had little to deal with as Dublin were at the usual nonsense with keep ball an more often than not coughed up possession.
Conor Lane put in one of the worst refereeing performances at Croke Park for a long time and there have been some shockers involving MCQuillan, Gough and Coldrick down the years. Pillar was on Newstalk yesterday defending the John Small hit on McLoughlan saying it was shoulder to shoulder at first.
The whole euphoria and outpouring of emotion after the match by Mayo while great to see is probably also the reason I think the won't beat whoever comes thru the other semi final. Lads crying, overcome with emotion etc. It was a semi final. They have won nothing yet. The have done similar in 2006 and 2012 only to absolutely flounder in the final. They will be feted as heroes for the next three weeks and the supporters will lose the run of themselves as always.
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Post by buck02 on Aug 16, 2021 10:29:12 GMT
Both Conor Lane and John Small should be retrospectively banned for the incident involving Eoin McLoughlin.
It was a horrendous hit and for Lane first not to give a free (and red card) and secondly run past a player unconscious on the ground with blood pouring out of his mouth was unforgivable.
McStay grovelling on The Sunday Game last night after saying it was shoulder to shoulder after seeing the hit on replay twice on Saturday also annoyed me. If he could be banned for the semi final and final it would be great also.
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Post by brucewayne on Aug 16, 2021 10:31:46 GMT
@lolly valance
Not sure that narrative is of any use. James Horan got his calls right and will do the same to whoever wins the other semi final. They have a reliable free taking option in Hennelly in the absence of CO'C. They are very well conditioned and have a ferocious work rate. Any talk that seeks to minimise where this Mayo team is at in terms of quality is suspect.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 16, 2021 10:41:57 GMT
p The whole euphoria and outpouring of emotion after the match by Mayo while great to see is probably also the reason I think the won't beat whoever comes thru the other semi final. Lads crying, overcome with emotion etc. It was a semi final. They have won nothing yet. The have done similar in 2006 and 2012 only to absolutely flounder in the final. They will be feted as heroes for the next three weeks and the supporters will lose the run of themselves as always. Emotion is what drives Mayo year on year. I expect a 100% effort in the final from them and the emotion of finally beating the dubs will be well parked by final day in September. This is a huge opportunity now and they know it.
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Post by buck02 on Aug 16, 2021 10:48:54 GMT
Pillar was on Newstalk yesterday defending the John Small hit on McLoughlan saying it was shoulder to shoulder at first. Not only did Pillar try and say it was shoulder to shoulder he also said it was a "magnificent hit". To say that about a fella who broke somebodys jaw in national radio needs to be called out. It was about as much shoulder to shoulder as Pillars shoulder on John Morrison before the 06 semi final.
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Post by Kingdomson on Aug 16, 2021 17:31:24 GMT
@lolly valance
Not sure that narrative is of any use. James Horan got his calls right and will do the same to whoever wins the other semi final. They have a reliable free taking option in Hennelly in the absence of CO'C. They are very well conditioned and have a ferocious work rate. Any talk that seeks to minimise where this Mayo team is at in terms of quality is suspect. Totally agree. There's no comparison between this Mayo team and the sides of 06' and 12', and one would be most naive to make such an assumption. This Mayo side are a serious animal that will take enormous beating by whichever side plays them in the final, if they are to be beaten at all this season. I certainly think Mayo can now go on and win the All Ireland. They'll be no taking the eye of the ball here or getting distracted. In any case, Kerry has enough to worry about getting over Tyrone and there are no guarantees. One thing is for sure, should Kerry make a final then Mayo will fully respect us but certainly have no fear and with their recent record against us in Croke Park - why would they? On a more general point, Kerry have some superb silky footballers in their defence who can be quite dynamic coming forward but Mayo have a really serious defensive unit who tackle cleanly - do we? A case to prove I would suggest.
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Post by royalkerryfan on Aug 16, 2021 18:54:40 GMT
@lolly valance
Not sure that narrative is of any use. James Horan got his calls right and will do the same to whoever wins the other semi final. They have a reliable free taking option in Hennelly in the absence of CO'C. They are very well conditioned and have a ferocious work rate. Any talk that seeks to minimise where this Mayo team is at in terms of quality is suspect. Totally agree. There's no comparison between this Mayo team and the sides of 06' and 12', and one would be most naive to make such an assumption. This Mayo side are a serious animal that will take enormous beating by whichever side plays them in the final, if they are to be beaten at all this season. I certainly think Mayo can now go on and win the All Ireland. They'll be no taking the eye of the ball here or getting distracted. In any case, Kerry has enough to worry about getting over Tyrone and there are no guarantees. One thing is for sure, should Kerry make a final then Mayo will fully respect us but certainly have no fear and with their recent record against us in Croke Park - why would they? On a more general point, Kerry have some superb silky footballers in their defence who can be quite dynamic coming forward but Mayo have a really serious defensive unit who tackle cleanly - do we? A case to prove I would suggest. Infairness though some perspective is still needed and some things get lost on the euphoria and emotion of beating Dublin. In 90 mins they kicked 17 points and created 1 goal opportunity. They were shockingly bad in the first half. Yes they are athletic with arguably the best HB line in the country. But context is still needed they are not world beaters.
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Post by boherbee on Aug 16, 2021 19:36:25 GMT
Pillar was on Newstalk yesterday defending the John Small hit on McLoughlan saying it was shoulder to shoulder at first. Not only did Pillar try and say it was shoulder to shoulder he also said it was a "magnificent hit". To say that about a fella who broke somebodys jaw in national radio needs to be called out. It was about as much shoulder to shoulder as Pillars shoulder on John Morrison before the 06 semi final. 😀😀😀😀
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Post by blacksheep21 on Aug 16, 2021 21:01:45 GMT
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Post by sullyschoice on Aug 16, 2021 21:31:04 GMT
Hickey is a very peculiar individual. More of the usual from him.
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Post by jackiel on Aug 16, 2021 21:44:26 GMT
David Hickey is what I would politely call an "eccentric", we had quite an interesting discussion one day about how the Dubs "built Croke Park".
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Post by taggert on Aug 16, 2021 22:19:25 GMT
A typically myopic rant from a man who is so bitter and twisted he could hide behind a corkscrew. He despises all things Kerry too so here's hoping we absolutely sicken his sh1t before the year is out.....
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 16, 2021 22:36:48 GMT
Its a huge change for dubs to not get all the key decisions going their way in a big game. I have no doubt that they would be in the final if Coldrick, Gough or Joe was ref last saturday.
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Post by veteran on Aug 17, 2021 8:51:53 GMT
A typically myopic rant from a man who is so bitter and twisted he could hide behind a corkscrew. He despises all things Kerry too so here's hoping we absolutely sicken his sh1t before the year is out..... He wrote something similar prior to last year’s final where he even had a go at a certain octogenarian seeing out his final days in Waterville. In that article, full of bile, he described the Dublin players as Corinthians. The Corinthian spirit deserted them at stages last Saturday! In my comments on that article last year I suggested that he came across as a man with tons of bitterness but not an ounce of class. That assessment has been reinforced by his latest outburst.
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