All Ireland Semi Final: The Dubs v Cavan, 1730 Saturday 5 December 2020

[Dinny Breen]

Us poor Leinster fellas were told to step up, volunteer harder. We said impossible, you don't understand, something needs to be done. You ignored our pleas, welcome to our pain. It doesn't go away.

[sid waddell]

Donegal have Neil McGee still playing because we have no one to replace him. Don't even want to think about Michael Murphy, who we'll be lucky to replace with someone comparable two generations from now. We'll not see another Karl Lacey for years either.

Meanwhile, Dublin have an endless conveyor belt, with no end in sight, allowing them to seamlessly supplement and replace their best players, almost unnoticed, year after year.

Have Bernard Brogan or Paul Flynn been missed? Alan Brogan? Brian Howard spending time on the bench?

Jack McCaffrey is arguably the best player in the country when on form.

He took a year out in 2016 and his replacement John Small got man of the match in the all Ireland final.

He takes a year out this year, McDaid comes in and wins man of the match today.

Hard to compete with that.

Eamon Breen left the Kerry panel, he wasn't missed, they got Tom O'Sullivan instead
Maurice Fitzgerald left the Kerry panel, he wasn't missed, they got Colm Cooper
Johnny Crowley left, he wasn't missed, they got Declan O'Sullivan
Liam Hassett left, he wasn't missed, they got Paul Galvin
Dara O'Cinnéide left, he wasn't missed, they got Kieran Donaghy
Mike Frank Russell left, he wasn't missed, they got Darran O'Sullivan
Seamus Moynihan left, they slotted Michael McCarthy in
Darragh O'Se left, they got David Moran
Tommy Walsh left, they got James O'Donoghue
Colm Copper left, they got Paul Geaney
Kieran Donaghy left, they got David Clifford and Sean O'Shea


Unfair!

[sid waddell]

The reality is Cavan are a Division 3 team who won Ulster this year on pure heart, pure determination

And fair play to them, they were game as a pebble this evening and were far from disgraced, they were a damn sight better than anybody in Leinster would have been

But they are not the best team in Ulster, they're not the second best team in Ulster, probably not third best

Not sure exactly what people expected this evening

Being good is not a crime

Being good means it's difficult to beat you

Colm O'Rourke was basically pushing the Homer Simpson line - if something is too difficult, quit

I would hope Colm doesn't bring that attitude to his day job in school

Colm's other line is that if a team wins too much for his liking, you should change the rules to bring the good team down to the level of others

Colm very much does not espouse that philosophy in his views on society as a whole, which I find interesting

6 in a row is a sign that the system is broken.

Even gobshites understand that now.

The Challenge Cup in Rugby League recovered from Wigan's eight in a row

The Mayo SFC recovered from Ballina's 13 in a row

The Armagh championship seems to be recovering well from Crossmaglen's 13 in a row/19 in 20 years

The All-Ireland hurling championship recovered from Kilkenny's 11 in 16 years

[Itchy]

Cavan were pure shite despite the platitudes being dished out on the TV & radio coverage.

Says a a gobshite from Carlow that spent how many years of their sorry existence in Div4? Youd know what shite is alright.

I am proud of the lads. Yes they made some terrible errors in the 1st half and they ran out of juice in the 2nd but they did everything they could and they know where the level is that they need to strive towards. Dublin are just an incredible team. The level of athleticism, power and strength they have through their panel is sensational, its professional I suppose. They are also incredibly skillful and big Fenton is the best player in Ireland by a mile. Their first 5 subs, without doubt, start on any other team in the country.

Cavan have a lot of new players or lads really only getting into a proper S&C program (a legacy of previous managements and county board not doing it right) We have a good man in there now and hopefully we can keep him. We have an excellent manager. We have some damn good players. The players have had a taste of glory so hopefully that convinces them to stick with it and push on for more. I'm confident this will be a start for Cavan to move up in the world, not the end of a good team like it was in 97.  So a great year and well done to all involved.

[Cunny Funt]

Don't think Cavan should be too downbeat tonight better sides than them have shipped simliar or bigger defeats to Dublin in recent years.

The competitive performance 1st half took loads out of Cavan while Dublin were never going to fade with their fitness and very strong bench.  Some consistency in Dublins scoring in this championship. 22 scores v Westmeath, 25 v Laois, 20 v Meath and 25 today.

[Tubberman]

The reality is Cavan are a Division 3 team who won Ulster this year on pure heart, pure determination

And fair play to them, they were game as a pebble this evening and were far from disgraced, they were a damn sight better than anybody in Leinster would have been

But they are not the best team in Ulster, they're not the second best team in Ulster, probably not third best

Not sure exactly what people expected this evening

Being good is not a crime

Being good means it's difficult to beat you

Colm O'Rourke was basically pushing the Homer Simpson line - if something is too difficult, quit

I would hope Colm doesn't bring that attitude to his day job in school

Colm's other line is that if a team wins too much for his liking, you should change the rules to bring the good team down to the level of others

Colm very much does not espouse that philosophy in his views on society as a whole, which I find interesting

6 in a row is a sign that the system is broken.

Even gobshites understand that now.

The Challenge Cup in Rugby League recovered from Wigan's eight in a row

The Mayo SFC recovered from Ballina's 13 in a row

The Armagh championship seems to be recovering well from Crossmaglen's 13 in a row/19 in 20 years

The All-Ireland hurling championship recovered from Kilkenny's 11 in 16 years

ballina didn't have multiples of resources of every other club, plus people still went to matches by bicycle. slightly different.

[Dubh driocht]

Recovery is not possible when  you are up against a population of 1.2M. The examples quoted refer to reasonably level playing fields where an exceptional group comes to the fore. Unless the rules change I really don't see anyone winning the All Ireland other than Dublin for the rest of my life.

[BennyCake]

The reality is Cavan are a Division 3 team who won Ulster this year on pure heart, pure determination

And fair play to them, they were game as a pebble this evening and were far from disgraced, they were a damn sight better than anybody in Leinster would have been

But they are not the best team in Ulster, they're not the second best team in Ulster, probably not third best

Not sure exactly what people expected this evening

Being good is not a crime

Being good means it's difficult to beat you

Colm O'Rourke was basically pushing the Homer Simpson line - if something is too difficult, quit

I would hope Colm doesn't bring that attitude to his day job in school

Colm's other line is that if a team wins too much for his liking, you should change the rules to bring the good team down to the level of others

Colm very much does not espouse that philosophy in his views on society as a whole, which I find interesting

6 in a row is a sign that the system is broken.

Even gobshites understand that now.

The Challenge Cup in Rugby League recovered from Wigan's eight in a row

The Mayo SFC recovered from Ballina's 13 in a row

The Armagh championship seems to be recovering well from Crossmaglen's 13 in a row/19 in 20 years

The All-Ireland hurling championship recovered from Kilkenny's 11 in 16 years

I would like to remind you about this post in a decades time, when Dublin have just completed 16 in a row. But by then, nobody will care. I certainly won't.

[bannside]

I dont gove a toss if Dublin win it for the next 100 years....as long as there is some kind of level playing field.

Cavan today played their 5th match in 6 weeks. Looked tired... because they were tired.

Heres a solution that might just breath some life into this thing before no one cares any more. Do away with provincials altogether. Its a small country we live in. 5 hours top to bottom.

Two comps. Sam for teams finishing in next years Divs one and two of the league. Mick for divs three and four. Wuth proper prizemoney holidays and perks for winning it. Played before Sam final. Double header.

In all competitions, neutral ground for venue. That would free up Croke Park as a venue for all counties.

If the Dubs thought they might draw Mayo at a neutral venue, it might mean they need to have their A game in place for the very first match, instead of cruising through Leinster in second gear.

And the B comp will be every bit as competitive and worth winning.

[tonto1888]

For the first time I turned the game off with about 15 mins to go. That's not a slight on Cavan. I've enjoyed watching them this year - mostly in the first league game against us - they've been excellent and they have been a breath of fresh air. It's not even a slight on dublin. It was just one steam roller too many. Hopefully Mayo/Tipp can give them a game in the final. I won't hold my breath though. Well done Cavan on a great championship. You should be proud of your boys.

[Angelo]

There's about 7 or 8 Dublin clubs who would be at the very minimum be extremely competitive in Divisions 3 and 4.

[Milltown Row2]

There's about 7 or 8 Dublin clubs who would be at the very minimum be extremely competitive in Divisions 3 and 4.

Pure shite!

[Blowitupref]

There's about 7 or 8 Dublin clubs who would be at the very minimum be extremely competitive in Divisions 3 and 4.

This happened to Dublins best club team a few years ago. County and club football is chalk and cheese.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2017/1112/919469-reigning-champions-st-vincents-dumped-out-of-leinster/

[Rossfan]

For the first time I turned the game off with about 15 mins to go.

I haven't watched a Leinster game involving Dublin since 2017.
I first switched off an AI Final early 2nd half in 2018.
Good that O'Rourke brought it up at last on TV.
Time for the other 31 Co Boards to tell Croke Park their spoiled child's day is done if they want to keep inter Co football and the Senior AI championship in existence.

[From the Bunker]

For the first time I turned the game off with about 15 mins to go. That's not a slight on Cavan. I've enjoyed watching them this year - mostly in the first league game against us - they've been excellent and they have been a breath of fresh air. It's not even a slight on dublin. It was just one steam roller too many. Hopefully Mayo/Tipp can give them a game in the final. I won't hold my breath though. Well done Cavan on a great championship. You should be proud of your boys.

If (more likely when) Mayo/Tipp lose to Dublin, I hope they lose well. Another respectable loss only papers over the huge craics and prolongs this agony!