Dessie Farrell admits Dublin badly missed Con O'Callaghan as he warns of ‘serious conversation' with players

The Irish Sun

2 days ago

DESSIE FARRELL has vowed to have a 'serious conversation' with his Dublin players about their costly errors.
The Dubs coughed up FIVE points to Armagh for technical fouls at Croke Park — and
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A lot of work to do for Farrell's men in the coming weeks
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Armagh ran out winners by a score of 0-24 to 0-19
Rory Grugan tapped over three Ocrhard points after Dublin breaches of the four/three rule, as well as a separate two-pointer after a man in blue impeded a player who made a kickout mark.
Boss Farrell also winced at the 17 wides in this Group of Death clash.
Fuming Farrell said of the series of technical errors: 'It just shouldn't be happening. Whether they're marginal calls or not, we shouldn't be putting ourselves in that position.
'To get done for three, and then we had a breach or a technical foul after a mark in the first half as well which cost us another two points.
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'That's five points in total it cost us. At this stage of the competition, against opposition like we're playing, it's just not good enough.
'We'll be having a serious conversation about that.'
The 2023 champions are still in the hunt for Sam but have now lost two Championship games in the same season for the first time since 2010 after last month's
Dublin struck 11 wides in the second-half alone as they chased holders Armagh's lead.
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They took nine separate pot-shots for two-pointers in the half and scored just two.
Farrell said it was a mistake to keep chasing long-range scores and he acknowledged they badly missed Con O'Callaghan.
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King Con
Farrell said: 'I think what you're supposed to say in this situation is that it's an opportunity for somebody else.
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'But when you're dealing with somebody like Con, it's definitely a loss — there's no denying that, there's no getting away from that.
'But that's the challenge we face. We faced it in 2022 when he missed the back end of the Championship and we came up short against Kerry in the semi-final.
'We were prepared for not having him on the pitch today. It's not as if it was a bolt from the blue.
'Ultimately, I think we missed his leadership out there at different times.
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'Obviously he brings a level of composure and a level of calm that we struggled without at times today.
'We were at odds with ourselves at different stages and to identify the reasons for that is a challenge at this point in time. But perhaps missing Con is a contributing factor.'