MATCH REACTION DUBLIN: GAVIN CUMMISKEYlistens as manager Pat Gilroy yet again has to address questions relating to his players' mental fortitude
CONOR COUNIHAN talked about how Cork travelled down the dark road Dublin must now wander along. Counihan said the lesson will “make or break” any team.“We seem to like to learn lessons,” said Dublin manager Pat Gilroy after seeing an eight-point advantage devoured by the All-Ireland champions. “Anyway, I would be glad if this was the last one.”
Dublin, yet again, found themselves on the knife-edge only to slide down the wrong side as Cork reeled them in after Bernard Brogan and Bryan Cullen limped ashore. Diarmuid Connolly followed soon after.
The collapse was emphatic and once the momentum starts to swing . . . well, Dublin midfielder Michael Dara Macauley witnessed it all at close quarters and tried to make sense of it. “They started going through the middle and we should have stopped them. We should have slowed the game up. There are plenty of lessons to be taken out of this.”
Lesson number one: Gilroy understands the Cork reserves were far superior to what was at his disposal yesterday afternoon. Counihan could launch All Star midfielder Nicholas Murphy into the fray for the last eight minutes. When Cullen and Brogan tightened up on 46 and 50 minutes, Darren Day and Dean Kelly came in. Day lasted 16 minutes.
“We learnt a lot about our resources today,” said Gilroy. “They may be just a bit shy of this level. We have a lot of guys coming back from injury so maybe they can push into it or else those fellas need to improve. I think we know very clearly where we need to improve.”
The return of Alan Brogan and Eoghan O’Gara seems essential in ensuring a five-point haul from someone like Kevin McManamon is rewarded with a medal.
Lesson number two: Gilroy was asked, for the umpteenth time, about his players’ mental fortitude. He understands the only answer is to deliver the Sam Maguire but that doesn’t mean he needs to be overjoyed by the innuendo.
“Do you think I am going to say ‘yes’ to that, in fairness?
No.
“If I really believe that then I should walk out the door here and never be in front of this team. This team has more character and more guts to put up with the kind of stuff that surrounds them every day. And they get back out there and they train and they work. And I’ll tell you, they are the most honest guys.
“They will get stick for this. It was an eight-point lead and they lost. People will say what you’ve just said and we’ll deal with that and we have to deal with it because that’s our job. We are the Dublin team and we have to listen to that. And when we have the All-Ireland, some day, that’s when we’ll stop hearing that.
“That’s the challenge. Because that’s what everyone is going to think but I know what’s in that dressingroom. They have serious character and anyone who questions it, well, they might get a surprise. Some day. But, in fairness, that question is well asked and it is going to be asked every day for the next two months and it is up to us to answer it during the summer. It is as simple as that.”
The comparison to last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Cork, in Gilroy’s opinion, was not relevant. “It was indiscipline last year. What we had on the field today at the end wasn’t strong enough. Even though we did create chances and should have converted them, we didn’t finish with a very strong team in comparison to them. We learnt that today.”
Gilroy was asked about keeping his team together for the trophy presentation to Cork captain Michael Shields up in the Hogan Stand.
“I wanted them to enjoy the presentation ceremony. I think it was very important for us to stand there and watch it. Cork deserved their win and I think it was important for us to stand there and enjoy that.”
Enjoy? He uses the word with a deadpan expression. Maybe he means endure or suffer. Another lesson on a day of many.
