{"id":276408,"date":"2026-02-02T04:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T04:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/276408\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T04:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T04:57:13","slug":"ger-brennan-hints-at-major-cuts-after-dublin-fall-to-mayo-in-castlebar-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/276408\/","title":{"rendered":"Ger Brennan hints at major cuts after Dublin fall to Mayo in Castlebar \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

NFL Division 1: Mayo 1-18 Dublin 2-9<\/p>\n

Ger Brennan<\/a> has hinted some All-Ireland winners could be cut from the Dublin<\/a> panel after watching his side slip to a second successive National Football League<\/a> defeat.<\/p>\n

Mayo led this Division One contest by two points at half-time at a sunny MacHale Park and the home side assumed control of proceedings in front of 15,197 spectators when Dublin defender Se\u00e1n MacMahon was sent off on a straight red card in the 40th minute.<\/p>\n

It appeared to be harsh on MacMahon, who was sent to the line following an off-the-ball tussle with Ryan O\u2019Donoghue.<\/p>\n

Darragh Beirne netted Mayo\u2019s goal five minutes after the red card to give Andy Moran\u2019s side a 1-11 to 1-5 lead. Despite a brief Dublin revival during which they scored 1-1 in a two-minute spell, the outcome never looked in doubt.<\/p>\n

Mayo have now won their opening two games of the campaign under new manager Moran, while Brennan is still waiting for his first victory at the helm in the capital.<\/p>\n

The Dublin boss says some difficult decision will have to be made when he culls his squad before their third-round game against Monaghan on February 14th. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve a panel of about 50 there now, with guys coming back from Sigerson duty, guys coming back from Ballyboden, and we need to cut the panel down next weekend,\u201d said Brennan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would suggest, probably, some of our fellas who\u2019ve been around the block, that there will be a few tough decisions to be made.<\/p>\n

\"DublinDublin manager Ger Brennan before the game. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cYou make those decisions through looking at the data, looking at the contributions fellas are making on the pitch and off the pitch, and then your eyes don\u2019t lie. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf a guy has done what he\u2019s done over the last couple of years, it\u2019s probably decision time for a couple of guys in terms of what they want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

When pushed on whether it was an issue of raw hunger for some of the more experienced Dublin players, Brennan replied: \u201cIf Mayo had snuck their two or three All-Irelands over the last couple of years, is Aidan O\u2019Shea playing this year? I don\u2019t know, probably unlikely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brennan showed a degree of ruthlessness early on in Castlebar on Sunday by making three substitutions in the first 31 minutes \u2013 taking off Killian McGinnis and his midfield pairing of Ethan Dunne and Brian Howard.<\/p>\n

The Dublin manager, who also made three changes at half-time last time out against Donegal, said none of the switches against Mayo were because of knocks to players.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo injuries involved,\u201d said Brennan. \u201cWe\u2019re just being as fair and transparent with the players as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fairly black and white, I will show the lads what it is they need to improve on. In the engine room last week, the middle eight, probably bar Se\u00e1n MacMahon, we were very poor against Donegal in the first half. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we would have gone through those learnings with the players during the week. We were getting outdone again in the engine room so we said we had to make changes a lot quicker.<\/p>\n

\"Mayo'sMayo’s Paddy Durcan is blocked by Dublin’s Jack Lundy. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cYour analysis team are feeding you live information, I don\u2019t make decisions on GPS data or any of that stuff but you certainly make decisions on influencing the game, on kickouts, breaking balls, tackles, possessions in the right part of the pitch. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Mayo were outworking us in all of those areas. So, three good lads, to be fair to them, they just didn\u2019t get up to the pitch of the game quick enough and we couldn\u2019t afford to leave it go until the half.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Brennan has some tough decisions to make over the next fortnight, Moran will be pleased by his side\u2019s winning start to 2026. Not that Mayo\u2019s performance was flawless by any means in a game that lacked real bite for large parts and certainly won\u2019t make any list of top 20 Mayo-Dublin battles.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donoghue\u2019s positioning at centre forward continues to look like a worthwhile project though, providing the Belmullet man with more involvement in the game and allowing him to neatly link the play.<\/p>\n

Eoin Murchan was handed the task of tagging O\u2019Donoghue for much of the contest but the opening goal came at the other end where Luke Breathnach finished in the third minute, 1-0 to 0-2.<\/p>\n

Cormac Costello, a late addition for Con O\u2019Callaghan who missed out because of a hamstring strain, pointed a 45 moments later but wonderful two-pointers followed from O\u2019Donoghue and David McBrien to push Mayo ahead and Dublin never restored parity thereafter.<\/p>\n

Mayo, wearing 1951 commemorative jerseys, led 0-10 to 1-5 at the interval but the game swung decisively in the opening five minutes of the restart.<\/p>\n

Costello had a goal chance in the early stages of the second half but his effort smashed off the underside of the crossbar. McBrien then blazed over a point for Mayo before MacMahon was sent off.<\/p>\n

\"Mayo'sMayo’s Darragh Beirne comes up against Dublin’s David Byrne. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Brennan said Dublin will review the video footage of the incident before deciding whether to appeal.<\/p>\n

The Dubs only managed four scores over the course of the second half, while 1-16 of Mayo\u2019s total tally came from open play. However, with 13 wides registered, Moran still sees plenty of room for improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bit like last week in terms of there was the good and the bad in it,\u201d he said of his team\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to control the game when they\u2019re down to 14, but I don\u2019t think we played really particularly well in the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t really went after being down a man or up a man yet in training so I can\u2019t really be too critical of the boys but I thought we could have been a lot better in that period. Our shooting efficiency still has to go up.\u201d<\/p>\n

MAYO: R Hennelly; J Coyne, R Brickenden, E Hession; S Callinan (0-0-2), P Durcan, S Coen (0-0-1); B Touhy, D McBrien (0-1-1); J Carney (0-0-1), R O\u2019Donoghue (0-1-3, 1f), J Flynn (0-0-1); D Beirne (1-0-1), J Carr, F Boland (0-0-2). Subs: A O\u2019Shea for Durcan (45 mins); D O\u2019Connor (0-0-1) for Carr (47); C McHale (0-0-1f) for Beirne (54); P Towey for Boland (62); D McHugh for Coen (64).<\/p>\n

DUBLIN: E Comerford; C Tyrrell, S MacMahon, D Byrne; N Doran, E Murchan, C O\u2019Connor; E Dunne, B Howard; K McGinnis (0-0-1), N Scully, C Costello (0-1-3, 1f, 1\u203245); P Small (1-0-1), L Breathnach (1-0-0), J Lundy (0-0-1). Subs: C Kilkenny for Dunne (21 mins); K Stephenson for McGinnis (24); S Bugler (0-0-1) for Howard (31); L O\u2019Dell for Lundy (51); G McEneaney for Breathnach (59).<\/p>\n

Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NFL Division 1: Mayo 1-18 Dublin 2-9 Ger Brennan has hinted some All-Ireland winners could be cut from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2179,42,4185,95595,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-276408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-dublin-gaa","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-mayo-gaa","11":"tag-national-football-league","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}