Dublin could be facing an All-Ireland quarter-final without the services of star forward Con O’Callaghan after the Cuala attacker limped off in extra-time of the Boys in Blue’s dramatic victory over Donegal at Croke Park on Sunday.
O’Callaghan accounted for 1-05 of Dublin’s total and laid on the decisive second goal for Paddy Small – limped off injured himself immediately after finding the net – as Dublin stunned the Ulster side 2-26 to 2-22 after 90 minutes of football.
O’Callaghan could be seen pulling up with an apparent hamstring strain having been involved in the 78th-minute move (below) that led to his clubmate Charlie McMorrow hitting the post with Dublin already five points to the good. He was replaced by Tim Deering.
O’Callaghan’s fitness has been a game-to-game issue all season with hamstring troubles keeping the six-time All-Ireland out of move of the National League and, most notably, the Leinster final loss to Westmeath.
After the win ove Donegal, Dublin boss Ger Brennan admitted it was a wait and see game with his star pupil ahead of next week’s final-eight clash against one of Galway, Tyrone or Cork.
“Con, I haven’t caught up with the medical team yet, so I need to see, chat to them first, see where he’s at.,” Brennan told RTÉ Sport.
As well as O’Callaghan and Small, Nathan Doran had earlier gone off with what looked like a serious injury, the Clontarf clubman was replaced by O’Callaghan’s Cuala team-mate Eoin Kennedy midway through the first half.
If O’Callaghan has some chance of being involved again this term, the news on Doran looked far gloomier.
“Nathan Doran, his Achilles looks like it’s gone,” Brennan revealed. “He is a warrior, Nathan, as is Con. But Nathan really put his body on the line these last couple of games. He had one or two niggles there. But yeah, it looks like the Achilles is gone.”
Brennan declared himself delighted with his side’s effort on a stiflingly hot day at Headquarters and pointed to his squad’s much-maligned supporting cast as the bench came up trumps late in the game with Kennedy excelling while fellow substittues Ross McGarry and Seán Guiden firing over scores.
“Delighted with the overall effort from the guys that started and the fellahs that came in, it was a massive effort and the fellahs put their bodies in the line,” Brennan said.
“So I think both sets of players did their counties justice. We’re just delighted to be in the draw tomorrow morning, that was the aim coming into the match today.
“Going back to the pre-season regional trials and the O’Byrne Cup, National League and Championship, we’ve played 161 or 162 players. We have given nine players championship debuts, Josh Bannon being the ninth today.
“In addition to those nine, we’ve given a further three championship starts to Hugh Sullivan, Nathan Doran and Greg McEneaney. So you’re trying to integrate some new players into the setup. It’s not an exact science but we certainly have done our best as a management to give guys a chance, but you can’t put a fellah in too early either.”
As well as working on his walking wounded, Brennan saw some aspects of Dublin’s play that they will need to improve on before next weekend if they’re to challenge for a place in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
“There’s an awful lot to work on. We were quite wasteful in front of goal for a large amount of the game.,” Brennan said.
“Some of Donegal’s long kickouts to goal before half-time, you’d be disappointed with that. We’ll have to kind of see how we’re getting caught out that way. And then the main thing was just to be in the draw in the morning. Thankfully we are there.”
Brennan and McGuinness shake hands after the game
Brennan’s opposite number was left to lament the end of a championship season which saw his side lose three times in all, first to Down in Ulster before Cork and now Dublin in the All-Ireland series.
“Our kick-out didn’t really fire, Dublin’s did fire. That had a big, big, big bearing on the number of possessions that were involved in the game. I think Dublin had 45 shots. That’s a huge number from our point of view,” McGuinness told RTÉ Sport.
“But at the end of the day, if you’re not getting hands on the ball, teams are going to get their shots off. They kept the ball well, they’re building their own game plan as they’re going along through the championship. We just need to go back and we need to reflect and try and fine-tune as many things as possible.”
The ferocious battle took its toll on Donegal’s playing reserves as well as Dublin’s with McGuinness having to turn to his bench a little earlier and more often than he otherwise may liked.
“We had just lost Hugh and then we lost Jason and Michael. We lost three really, really big men in that first period of extra-time and that had a big, big impact. The fellas that are on the pitch then, they’re trying to keep the flag up if you like, and the Dublin players that are on in the forward line, they’re eyeing up the most fatigued player and it’s really a game of chance at that stage.
“The structure’s gone, the kick-out structure’s gone, your three biggest men are on the sideline and that has a big impact then. You’re watching the game then and really there’s a lot of chance going on and how the ball’s going to break and as I say, people playing under serious fatigue and being ran at by guys that are just off the bench. That’s the game you end up in if you end up in extra-time in the new rules.”
The 2012 All-Ireland-winning manager pointed to the inconsistent nature of his side’s performances over the summer as the main takeaway from an ultimately disappointing campaign.
“I think that’s the word, inconsistent, to be honest with you. You’re just trying to find the magic formula,” McGuinness said.
“I spoke about it inside there, that everybody is trying to do that but ultimately there’s not a lot of training going on and you’re trying to manage people constantly in the new rules and making sure that you’re on the right side of it in terms of injuries and stuff, but at the same time you’re trying to prepare for games and get ready for the games.
“Back the last time I was involved, you maybe had three weeks or four weeks to get ready. You could bring guys down, you could build them up and you had more of a read on, you knew where fellahs were at, I think, and that’s probably where the inconsistency comes in. If you’re off by a couple of degrees at all, you’re beat.”