Russell surprised by Caffrey praise

TIPPERARY referee Paddy Russell was pleasantly surprised yesterday at Dublin manager Paul Caffrey’s complimentary comments on his handling of their All-Ireland semi-final game against Mayo.

“It was nice to see a manager making those comments, especially a losing manager. It’s not the normal thing they do,’’ he said.

Russell, the man in the middle for Dublin’s last All-Ireland victory in 1995 (against Tyrone), said the controversial NFL game between the same counties at the start of the year was now just “a bad memory” for him.