Ger Brennan wants Parnell Park return for Dublin footballers
Dublin manager Ger Brennan meets his father PJ after the All-Ireland SFC Round 2B victory over Cavan. Pic: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Back to winning ways for Dublin, the sideline for Ger Brennan and Parnell Park for the first time in championship in 22 years if the manager has his way.
Should a home draw come the Leinster runners-up’s way in All-Ireland SFC Round 3, Brennan is seeking that the Donnycarney venue hosts the game as opposed to Croke Park.
After back-to-back SFC defeats in GAA HQ against Westmeath and Louth, there is method in his plea. It would be their first championship game since a first-round qualifier against London in 2004.
“The evidence speaks for itself and if we are to get a home draw, I know our senior hurlers have a big game away (Thurles) to Clare on Saturday night.
I'd love to go and play, if it was a home draw for Dublin, probably on a Sunday playing in Parnell Park and get out of Croke Park.”
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Watched by a crowd of 14,486 in Kingspan Breffni, Dublin’s efficiency won them this game. Cavan had a multitude of scoring chances but converted less than 50% of them. Dublin registered three wides.
Returning to goal, Evan Comerford was impressive in the second half and Lee Gannon was another notable performer. Ballyboden St Enda’s pair Colm Basquel and Ross McGarry came off the bench to post five points between them and Basquel won the 67th minute penalty when he was upended by Brian O’Connell. Captain Con O’Callaghan found the roof of the net and he finished with 1-9.
Six points from the bench was a decent return. “The subs that came in today kept the energy levels high and added value when they came in,” said Brennan. “We probably haven't had that impact from the bench in some of our games recently. So that's a positive in itself.”
For Brennan, getting back in the saddle for the first time since he was handed the suspension at the end of March required concentration.
“Obviously Cavan, they had a lot of changes from the Monaghan game to the Westmeath game and again a bit of uncertainty around who they might start. So, I was just trying to keep sharp when we got to the Cavan first 15 to ensure we had our couple of match ups and structures right.”
Cavan trailed by just one at the interval but only posted four second-half points as they routinely kicked short or wide much to the disappointment of their home support.
Blue was the colour in sun-soaked Cavan town and would have been the feeling for Dublin 20 minutes in as they lost Costello to injury. The Whitehall Colmcilles man had a leg strapped, took a knock and was replaced by Basquel.
It brought to three the number of changes made to the Dublin starting line-up – Gannon and Peadar Ó Cofaigh-Byrne were introduced from the off for Eoin Kennedy and Seán Bugler.
“Seán just picked up a bit of a knock in his leg and hopefully he'll be back in the mix next week,” explained Brennan. “Cormac's just got a dead leg and he tried to go on and kick the free after the incident. He tried to push on but he wasn't able to and he's been great for us this year. So hopefully we'll get Cormac back for next week whenever it is.”
Cavan themselves made a trio of alterations but it was two of the men named originally that were starring in the opening stages. By the 18th minute, Emmanuel Shehu and Gerard Smith each had a brace of points in their accounts.
The teams were level five times in the first half. Dublin led by two in the 20th minute only to be hit by successive Louth two-pointers down their left wing, where they were enjoying themselves a lot.
They still racked up seven wides by the break, though, and O’Callaghan raised an orange flag of his own to tie up the half once more.
O’Callaghan accumulated seven points by the break but his best score was followed by three Cavan scores. The intent of the home side was exemplified by a tremendous spoil by captain Ciarán Brady on Ciarán Kilkenny.
That hat-trick was followed by a similar amount by Dublin to round out the half and led by one, 0-13 to 0-12. O’Callaghan pointed from play and a free prior to Lee Gannon becoming the fourth Dublin player to fist over a point.
Cavan manager Dermot McCabe was still happy up to the third quarter. “I'm not sure exactly what the score was, was it 17-14 or 18-15 at one stage and it stayed like that for quite a few minutes and unfortunately we had a few wides in a row and a few drop shorts that probably sucked a bit of the energy.”
After three defeats from three and just avoiding relegation from Division 2, he is seeking major improvements in 2027. “These are an important few months for us. I know lads will go back to their clubs and back to that type of work but my expectation is we need to be in better shape coming in in November than we were this last November.”
He added: “We had a big gap after the Monaghan game. It was our most disappointing, most deflating performance. We didn't give the shout or the passion that our supporters deserve and that's what we're trying to build."
P. Lynch (0-5, 1 tp, 1 free); E. Shehu, G. Smith (0-3 each); Conor Brady (tp), T. Madden (1 free) (0-2 each); D. Lovett (0-1).
C. O’Callaghan (1-9, 1-0 pen, 1 tp, 2 frees); R. McGarry, P. Small (0-3 each); C. Costello (1 free); L. Gannon, C. Basquel (0-2 each); C. McMorrow, N. Scully, S. Guiden (0-1 each).
L. Brady; J. Tynan, B. O’Connell, N. Carolan; G. Smith, J. McLoughlin, T. Madden; Conor Brady, P. Meade; Ciarán Brady (c), B. Donnelly, E. Shehu; R. Donohue, P. Lynch, D. Lovett.
O. Brady for P. Donnelly (43); D. McVeety for R. Donohoe (52); Cormac Brady for J. Tynan (61); C. Madden for D. Lovett, R. Tobin for J. McLoughlin (both 65).
E. Comerford; S. MacMahon, T. Clancy, D. Byrne; C. McMorrow, N. Doran, L. Gannon; B. Howard, P. Ó Cofaigh-Byrne; G. McEneaney, N. Scully, C. Kilkenny; P. Small, C. Costello, C. O’Callaghan (c).
C. Basquel for C. Costello (inj 20); R. McGarry for G. McEneaney (40); E. Kennedy for B. Howard (inj 49); S. Guiden for P. Small (63); T. Deering for L. Gannon (67).
L. Devenney (Mayo)
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