‘We were rattled in the second half’ – Dessie Farrell explains where his Dublin side went wrong

Dublin manager Dessie Farrell was obviously disheartened at watching his side suffer their first championship defeat since 2014. After replacing Jim Gavin in 2020, Farrell successfully led The Blues to their sixth All-Ireland title in a row last year. However, after losing to Mayo in extra time yesterday evening, the Dubs long and dominant run, has come to an end. Farrell gives an honest review as to what went wrong yesterday. "You would like to be coming to this stage of competition with more momentum, the team performance better than it was.

“We showed really good glimpses sometimes in matches. First half was really good at times, second half not so. “It’s hard to identify, it revolves around the lack of consistency.

“What that group achieved has been tremendous. They managed to keep going back to the well, and it is not easy when you know the hours, the commitment behind it. “A lot of people see them coming in on a Saturday or Sunday and don’t know how it takes over your life. For them to do it over the last five or six years has been incredible.

“I don’t know. We were rattled in the second half. After half-time we knew Mayo were going to come with a lot. We found it difficult to get out past their high press. “We thought we could get a score or two and weather the storm, but we could never get that additional score. We found it very hard to disrupt their momentum and left a lot to do in extra-time.

“I think we played so badly in the second half, we could make amends and address the situation. The black cards, a bit of fatigue in the system, and it was very hard for us to get the ball back. “Black cards at any time makes it hard to get possession, but especially in extra-time. The card for Colm Basquel probably spelled the end.”