We’re not a dirty side, insists Dubs chief Caffrey
Brogan was punished for an off-the-ball incident in Crossmaglen on Sunday and the All Star forward joins Mark Vaughan and Bryan Cullen on the county’s recent offenders’ list.
Vaughan and Cullen were both shown a pair of yellow cards during the heated NFL tie against Monaghan at Parnell Park.
The county’s successful O’Byrne Cup campaign was also marked by disciplinary issues with Declan O’Mahony and Dennis Bastick receiving straight red cards and Derek Murray sent off for two yellow card offences.
“Well, if you look at the guys who have received reds, they are not your typical combative players,” said Caffrey when asked about the three most recent incidents.
“Anyone that knows football knows that Alan Brogan doesn’t go out looking for trouble on a football field.
“Mark Vaughan, you know, a clumsy tackle – second yellow. Second yellows can happen to any player in any area of the field so I wouldn’t be over-indulging (discussion on that).
“We are not trying to send out Mark Vaughan and Alan Brogan to be hard men on football fields. Bryan Cullen’s record at club and county is exemplary so no I don’t think that will stand up going forward.”
Caffrey also intimated that Dublin may yet appeal the decision to dismiss Brogan who was the only man cautioned after 20 players became involved in two separate scuffles towards the end of the tie against Armagh.
“We’ve thought about it alright. It was on the word of a linesman so probably the less said about that the better but, suffice to say, I would think that Alan was very hard done by.”
Sunday was a disappointing day in more ways than one for Caffrey who watched as his team’s unbeaten record in 2008 was ripped asunder by an Armagh side that bounced back in some style from a seven-point defeat to Meath a week earlier.
Despite that, Caffrey’s demeanour in the aftermath has been positively chipper and he seems to have consigned the game to history already as he looks to the last round of the league this weekend at home to Meath.
Crossmaglen, he insists, will have very little impact on his thinking when he sits down to name his starting 15 for Dublin’s opening Leinster Championship defence against Louth on June 8. “No, not at all. I think anybody that has been watching us closely over the last number of months will see that we have invested heavily in the depth of our panel this year and will continue to do so.
“Quite a few bodies have left the Dublin panel over the last couple of months and quite a few fresh faces have come in. We needed to freshen things up in ‘08 and we’ve done that. One defeat is not going to change our season.
“We went up to Armagh, hoping to get a result, it didn’t happen. We were roundly beaten and have to accept it, take it on the chin and move on. It was a great display by Armagh and a very poor display by Dublin.”
There are, however, one or two legacies from Sunday in the shape of knocks to centre-back Ger Brennan, Ciaran Whelan and Shane Ryan which may force a delay in naming the team to face Meath until tomorrow.
Based purely on both counties’ performances and results against Armagh this past fortnight, Meath would overwhelming favourites but the reality is much more complicated and this weekend’s tie will be a much more accurate barometer of where both sides are at. Even after last weekend’s trimming, Dublin will be expected to re-assert their provincial bragging rights in front of an all-ticket attendance in Donnycarney.
Caffrey is looking forward to the challenge. “Dublin, Meath – everybody loves that game,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s like Galway-Mayo or Kerry-Cork. It has its own importance.
“A lot of guys will be hurting in relation to their own performance so we’ll see what reaction comes. We look forward to getting back on the field.”
