Latest news with #DessieFarrell
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Dessie Farrell hopeful Con O'Callaghan will be fighting fit for quarter-final
Dublin's Con-undrum. The deflationary impact on the county's supporters of the news that Con O'Callaghan would not line out was testament to the captain's importance to his team. Official confirmation of this state of affairs had emerged in the aftermath of the previous match he had missed in Croke Park, the defeat by Armagh when the wildness of the shooting, 18 wides, prompted a not so coded reaction from manager Dessie Farrell: ' ... one or two players that we needed something from, we needed a score or two from, just they never came from us and the gap was always too big.' Two weeks later, O'Callaghan was a late addition to the team to play Derry. The problem was a hamstring injury picked up against Galway in the vital group win in Salthill. After the narrow victory, Farrell admitted the player's inclusion had been a bit of a gamble. 'Yeah, you're never sure. We toyed with the idea maybe of holding him and keeping him for impact. But the risk with a player who's been injured and keeping him is that you use a sub and then he goes down and you have to use another sub, so we said we'd go Con from the start in the finish up and just delighted he was able to get through the game.' READ MORE Despite this full match and 0-5 scored, there were clearly concerns about his actual fitness. Farrell had a decision to make on Saturday. Could Dublin navigate the challenge of Cork without their key leader and attacking presence? He was completely aware of the pitfalls of being seen to take opponents lightly by keeping O'Callaghan under wraps. 'Yeah, that was the plan. It's not to say that we knew this wouldn't be a tight affair but we were just going to hope that we had enough. There were conversations with the coaches with a couple of minutes to go. We just decided to hold on. If it was a little bit tighter, I think you would have seen him come in for sure, yeah. 'We took the decision not to bring him on there. We sort of run the gauntlet on it a little bit for the last 10 minutes or so. Thankfully, that decision worked out, and we gave him an extra seven days to recover, and he should be good for the next day.' If 'should be good for the next day' doesn't sound like a ringing declaration, the decision at least gives the player another week for recovery. Dublin will know their All-Ireland quarter-final opponents on Monday when the draw is made shortly after 8.30am on Morning Ireland. The teams in the other pot are Armagh, Meath, Monaghan and Tyrone. As they met in the group stages, Dublin are protected from Armagh but can draw any of the other three. Meath have already defeated them in this year's Leinster semi-final.
Irish Daily Mirror
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Farrell acknowledges hurlers' epic win after 'fits and starts' Cork display
Dublin 1-19 Cork 1-16 After the first game at Croke Park on Saturday, anything felt possible. Of course, a win for Cork, while huge, wouldn't have been anything nearly as seismic as what had gone before, given that Dublin have already lost two games in this Championship and Cork have shown an ability to raise their game against stronger opposition. And they did so again but ultimately didn't threaten Dublin enough in the last 10 minutes or so when the game was up for grabs. Indeed, Dublin manager Dessie Farrell revealed afterwards that Con O'Callaghan was an option off the bench but, in the end, one they didn't feel they needed to use. 'It's not to say that we knew this wouldn't be a tight affair, but we were just going to hope that we had enough,' Farrell explained. 'There were conversations with the coaches with a couple of minutes to go. We just decided to hold on. If it was a little bit tighter, I think you would have seen him come on for sure, yeah.' Suffice to say he'll be needed if Dublin are to challenge seriously for an All-Ireland in the coming weeks, or even extend their season beyond next weekend. After going four points in front in as many minutes, they only scored four more times for the remainder of the half as the game was played on Cork's terms, with Chris Og Jones's 11th minute goal giving them a lead that they held all the way to the break, by which time it was two points. They'll have felt it ought to have been more. Jones was denied a second goal by Stephen Cluxton in the 30th minute and though Cork converted the resulting 45 and pushed four points clear, Seán Bugler halved the deficit with a crucial two-pointer on the stroke of half-time to make it 1-8 to 0-9. Dublin started the second half well, hitting Cork for 1-3 with just a point in reply in the first 10 minutes as Brian Howard took the goal brilliantly, but the visitors hit four unanswered to go ahead again and it was tit-for-tat until the last 10 minutes, when the scores dried up for Cork as they struggled for possession. 'Today we didn't miss an awful lot,' said Cork boss John Cleary. 'Other days I've been sitting here and we've missed goals and points and everything all over the place. 'I think we were very efficient, I think probably our problem was to try and get enough ball in hands, and we weren't able to do enough of that. 'I think Dublin won 90% of their own kick-outs maybe. I think we won maybe something over 50% of ours, and I think with the ball that we were getting, we were very efficient, and any time we did go up the field, we did bore holes in them at times, but unfortunately just fell short in the end.' Farrell felt that his side had played in 'fits and starts', which was a reasonable observation. He said: 'We struggled to get the consistency across the whole performance. It's never going to be plain sailing, an opposition is always going to get a purple patch, and it's how you can contain them in that period. 'We struggled to be clinical at times, and there were opportunities maybe to put a little bit of distance between ourselves and Cork at different stages. We didn't do that, we didn't take those opportunities, so it was always going to be a dogfight to the very end.' Before becoming Dublin manager, Farrell had a role with the county hurlers' backroom team under Mattie Kenny and, of course, he is familiar with the current manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin, who is a Na Fianna clubmate. It's a rare day that the Dublin footballers play second fiddle to their hurling counterparts. 'I spoke to Niall [when he got the job] but Niall doesn't need to be told anything,' said Farrell. 'He's doing a phenomenal job and did so with Na Fianna as well. 'It was a great appointment by the Dublin county board and there was a lot of good candidates in the mix. True to Niall's form, he hasn't let anybody down. 'He's done a brilliant job and he continues to do so. We wish him the best of luck from here on out.' DUBLIN: Stephen CLUXTON 8; Eoin MURCHAN 7, Seán MacMAHON 6, Davy BYRNE 6; Brian HOWARD (1-0) 7, John SMALL (0-1) 8, Lee GANNON (0-1) 7; Peader Ó COFAIGH-BYRNE 8, Ciarán KILKENNY (0-1) 6; Killian McGINNIS 7, Seán BUGLER (0-5, 1tp) 8, Niall SCULLY (0-1) 6; Paddy SMALL (0-4) 8, Lorcan O'DELL 5, Cormac COSTELLO (0-5, 0-2f) 7. Subs: Cian Murphy for O'Dell (45), Luke Breathnach (0-1) for McGinnis (57), Tom Lahiff for Gannon (59), Nathan Doran for Scully (68). CORK: Micheál Aodh MARTIN (0-1 '45') 7; Neil LORDAN 6, Daniel O'MAHONY 6, Maurice SHANLEY 7; Brian O'DRISCOLL 7, Seán BRADY 7, Mattie TAYLOR 7; Ian MAGUIRE (0-1) 7, Colm O'CALLAGHAN (0-2) 7; Paul WALSH 5, Seán WALSH (0-1) 7, Seán McDONNELL 6; Mark CRONIN (0-4, 0-2f) 7, Bran HURLEY (0-2) 7, Chris Óg JONES (1-4) 8. Subs: Eoghan McSweeney for Paul Walsh (48), Conor Cahalane for McDonnell (49-58, temp), Cathail O'Mahony (0-1) for Hurley (55), Seán Powter for Taylor (58), Luke Fahy for Lordan (63). REFEREE: Seán Hurson (Tyrone). QUOTE ME ON THAT 'We took the decision not to bring him on there. We sort of run the gauntlet on it a little bit for the last 10 minutes or so.' Dublin manager Dessie Farrell on Con O'Callaghan. STAR MAN - Chris Óg Jones (Cork) May have finished on the losing side but Jones was the best forward on view with 1-4 from play and gave Seán MacMahon a difficult evening. Will rue his other first half goal chance, however. AN OTHER - Peadar Ó Cofaigh-Byrne (Dublin) Perhaps didn't scale the heights of Newry seven days earlier, but it was still a very efficient performance from Ó Cofaigh-Byrne in the engine room, which is becoming less of a problem area for Dublin. UP NEXT DUBLIN: All-Ireland quarter-final, June 28/29. CORK: Season ends.
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘He should be good for the next day' – Dessie Farrell eases Dublin's Con O'Callaghan fears after victory over Cork
Dessie Farrell is satisfied that Con O'Callaghan will be available for next weekend's All-Ireland SFC quarter-final, explaining that he could have been sprung from the Dublin bench in tonight's three-point win over Cork in Croke Park if required.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Football previews: Dublin can override inconsistency - and Cork - to reach last eight
Saturday All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-finals Dublin v Cork, Croke Park, 6.15pm (Live, GAA+) – This is a fairly familiar last-eight fixture and this weekend is the fourth in the last 12 years. Dublin have won them all but usually not without something of a contest, as Cork have tended to produce their better performances in Croke Park against them. Although Cork haven't produced a rabbit from the hat to compare with last year's defeat of Donegal, they won the match they had to last week against Roscommon, even if they again squandered goal chances. Dublin had a rigorous outing in the Group of Death, outlasting Derry. Among the pluses for Dessie Farrell was another fine display by Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne, this time in the company of Conor Glass, arguably the season's centrefield governor, and the continuing reintegration of Lee Gannon. In the middle should be a contest, as Ian Maguire and Colm O'Callaghan are in excellent form. Apart from that, Dublin have better capacity at either end. Con O'Callaghan's return from injury was consequential and even allowing for inconsistency and mood swings, Dublin should have the winning of this. Verdict: Dublin Kerry v Cavan, Fitzgerald Stadium, 3.30pm (Live, GAA+) – Kerry's first defeat by a non-Dublin Leinster county in 24 years has raised temperatures but relief is at hand. Maybe the heavy Ulster orientation of their All-Ireland group didn't suit Cavan but despite phases of competitiveness, they still got pasted in the end by Donegal and Tyrone, which leaves them bruised for this visit to smarting and strengthened opponents. Jack O'Connor is able to recall Paudie Clifford, Diarmuid O'Connor and Seán O'Shea, impressive firepower to reintroduce. Cavan will be trying to rediscover whatever it was that turned over Mayo but even if there is good reaction to last week's grim reality, Killarney is no place to be taking a leaky defence. Verdict: Kerry Kerry's Paudie Clifford in action against Cork at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on May 31st. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho Sunday All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-finals READ MORE Donegal v Louth, Ballybofey, 4pm (Live, GAA+) – It is ironic that Louth with a Leinster title are unlikely to progress as far as they did last year without one. The post-provincial hangover extended as far as last week's Clare match, which was harder won than expected but in fairness to Peter Keane's side, only Down managed to rupture them. Donegal showed a streak of urgency in consigning Mayo to the dust with the last play of the match in Roscommon a week ago but for all their status as Ulster champions and All-Ireland front runners, there remains a sense that Jim McGuinness's team are still labouring a little. Maybe this is to do with the uninspired form of key forwards, as Michael Murphy assumes more and more of a burden. Maybe with Jason McGee back in action, they can muster more dynamism at centrefield. They accounted for Louth last year when Ger Brennan's side stayed in touch for most of the first half but couldn't stay the pace in Croke Park. Ballybofey won't be any more hospitable. Verdict: Donegal Down v Galway, Páirc Esler, 1.45pm (Live, GAA+) – Their last championship meeting was in 1971, the same year as Frazier-Ali 1 and the McNamee Commission report, and in the torrent of events since the counties find themselves separated by a bit more these days. Down are last year's Tailteann Cup winners whereas Galway were one-point adrift of the All-Ireland. Conor Laverty has used a fortuitous group draw to develop the team farther, winning two matches out of three. Ronan Burns's aggressive kickouts have found willing and dangerous receivers, such as Daniel Guinness and Odhran Murdock and the effect nearly unhinged Monaghan. Galway have rallied from a menacing start to their group to emerge from its deathly embrace. Damien Comer is back on the panel and they have been through too many top-level scrapes to lose the trail here. Verdict: Galway David Hyland and Colm Dalton celebrate after Kildare's win over Offaly in the Tailteann Cup quarter-final last weekend. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho Tailteann Cup semi-finals Kildare v Fermanagh, Croke Park, 4pm (Live, GAA+) – It would be important for Kildare to swallow the earlier disappointments and delver on their status as competition favourites, thus guaranteeing a place at the top table in 2026. Fermanagh aren't to be taken lightly – they nearly shuttered Down in Ulster – but Kildare should win. Verdict: Kildare Limerick v Wicklow, Croke Park, 2pm (Live, GAA+) – Wicklow had a terrific win over Westmeath last week while Limerick again bettered Wexford, confirming the Division 4 final outcome. The teams drew in Aughrim in the league, which effectively denied the home side promotion. Wicklow have consistently outperformed expectation and can again. Verdict: Wicklow
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Dublin and Cork unchanged for Croke Park meeting
Dublin boss Dessie Farrell has named an unchanged side for their All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final against Cork at Croke goes with the same starting side that managed a victory over Derry in their final group O'Callaghan retains his place after making his return from injury to start in Newry last are also unchanged after they saw off Roscommon last time Stephen Cluxton; Sean MacMahon, Theo Clancy, David Byrne; Brian Howard, John Small, Lee Gannon; Peadar O'Cofaigh-Byrne, Killian McGinnis; Ciaran Kilkenny, Sean Bugler, Niall Scully; Paddy Small, Con O'Callaghan, Cormac Evan Comerford, Luke Breathnach, Nathan Doran, Alex Gavin, Tom Lahiff, Greg McEnaney, Ross McGarry, Eoin Murchan, Cian Murphy, Lorcan O'Dell, Eoghan O' Mark Aodh Martin; Sean Meehan, Daniel O'Mahony, Maurice Shanley; Brian O'Driscoll, Sean Brady; Matty Taylor, Ian Maguire; Colm O'Callaghan, Paul Walsh, Sean Walsh, Sean McDonnell; Mark Cronin, Brian Hurley, Chris Og Patrick Doyle, Neil Lordan, Rory Maguire, Sean Powter, Luke Fahy, Conor Cahalane, Eoghan McSweeney, Ruairi Deane, Conor Corbett, Cathail O'Mahony, Hugh O'Connor.
