DUBLIN BOSS JIM Gavin questioned referee Conor Lane’s application of the black card rule in yesterday’s All-Ireland senior football final.
Defender James McCarthy was shown a black card in the first-half of the game by the Cork whistler but the Dublin manager felt there was other instances where players should have suffered a similar punishment.
“I suppose when you look at why the black card was brought in, it was for cynical play, for blocks, pull-downs or trips.
“I don’t think it fits into that category. But from the referee’s performance, we’re just looking for consistency.
“That certainly wasn’t out there today. Definitely, if James got a black card for that particular shoulder, there was definitely other ones on the opposition side.
“So I think from the both camp’s perspective, we just want consistency over the full expanse of the game from the refereeing perspective.
“Difficult as it was – and I thought he did a good job, difficult conditions.
“That surface is one of the slippiest in the country when it gets wet. But I thought overall he managed it well.”
Last year Dublin managed to complete the task at the second attempt against Mayo, an experience they will hope to draw upon now on 1 October.
“That certainly has crossed my mind – that we’ve been here before in this situation and we’ve learned from it,” remarked Gavin.
“We’ve pushed on from it. So the mindset and the culture that is within the group is that they’ll go after and look for that learning piece and try and improve it for the next day.
“And it’s certainly in our hands in that regard.”
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