Get over it, Carr tells Derry
A dozen counties have attempted to resurrect their seasons through the back door in the week following defeat in their province’s showpiece, but, to date, only Carr’s Dublin team from 10 years ago has managed to do so. Derry will be the only side vying to break that sequence tomorrow when they face Kildare at HQ, but manager John Brennan has been fiercely critical of the GAA authorities for landing them in such a predicament in the first place.
Carr has little sympathy.
His Dublin team lost that 2001Leinster decider to Meath by a goal, a game they felt had slipped through their fingers. Sean Boylan all but accepted as much afterwards but there was no dwelling on defeat.
The draw for the qualifiers paired the Dubs with a dangerous Sligo team under Peter Forde that had lost a Connacht semi-final to Mayo by a point before seeing off Carlow and then Kildare, the latter in Croke Park despite ending the game with 14 men.
Not only did Dublin win, they did so with something to spare. A three-goal blitz just after half-time padded them towards a 14-point victory and propelled them into what would be a memorable All-Ireland quarter-final and replay against Kerry.
“The big thing for us that time was we had a team meeting immediately after the Leinster final in the changing room and we addressed it there and then rather than let if fester through to training on the Tuesday night,” Carr explained yesterday.
“We discussed the loss and we took the view that a Leinster title wasn’t going to be our be all and end all. We had approached it as a do-or-die, but we asked ourselves afterwards was this what we wanted to be remembered for and we decided it wasn’t.
“The way we looked at it was that we were going to go as far as we could in the championship and do as much as we could to try to meet Meath again down the line. We could have languished in self-pity, which would have been a mark against us, but we seized the chance.”
There are a few things to note here.
Firstly, Dublin’s turnaround a decade ago was actually seven days rather than six, but then that didn’t do much to help Cork, who fell to Galway by four points that same day after their loss to Kerry in the Munster final a week earlier.
The second point is that this was the first year of the qualifiers and a Dublin team that was full of experienced but unfulfilled veterans who had just lost their fourth straight provincial final and were absolutely thrilled to avail of a second chance.
“You’re right, that was the first year of the qualifiers and that probably did play a part. We could all throw our minds back to previous years when we had lost Leinster finals that ended the championship for us and how we would have loved another shot. We had that now.
“We had guys like (Jason) Sherlock, Dessie Farrell and Darren Homan on that team. They were all strong characters and we knew by them they were champing at the bit for another go. All we had to do was let them get on with it.”
Few sides have been able to square away a provincial defeat todispassionately since and there have been some heavy beatings. Limerick lost to Down by 11 points in 2003, Tyrone had 14 points to spare on Laois a year later and Sligo were 19 adrift of Down last season.
Carr was somewhat taken aback yesterday when told of the unique position his old Dublin team still holds in the annals of the GAA and he clearly believes it doesn’t say much about the attitude of some of those teams down the years.
“I am surprised by that. I think it is a cop-out by teams. If we are at the height of the summer and these teams are almost professional by now and supremely fit then it shouldn’t be an issue, physically, to be playing again six days later.
“If the mental side of things is an issue then that is self-pity. Teams went out for years with no second chance in the qualifiers so they should shut their mouths and grab the opportunity in front of them while they can.”
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