Michael Darragh Macauley maintains that All-Ireland semi-final defeats are the hardest to take.

Dublin have lost six semi-finals since 2002, with Macauley having played in the 2010 and 2012 reversals at the hands of Cork and Sunday's opponents Mayo. To put things into context, the Ballyboden St. Enda's midfielder has lost just four times in 31 championship appearances for the Dubs.  

"Losing a semi-final, I've always said it, it's just the worst place to be," he said.

"I'd prefer to lose an All-Ireland final, an All-Ireland quarter-final even, than lose a semi-final. There's just something about it, about knowing you're not going to be involved on the big day.

"I found it very tough to watch the All-Ireland final day go by when we lost our semi-finals. It's definitely still fresh in our heads, losing that Donegal match last year and I might have to have a little reminder to myself of it over the next few days, just to kind of remember how unhappy we were after that match last year.

"I think it's no harm to do that. Hopefully that brings the sort of resolve that can drive you on in the last few minutes of this semi-final, which is what we're going to need."

Macauley, who is by no means a certain starter on Sunday, has played in five consecutive semi-finals since making his debut in Dublin's dismal Leinster semi-final defeat to Meath in 2010, and knows just how tough they are.

"I suppose the common denominator in all those semi-finals is that they were all tough games," he said.

"We've never won a semi-final easily and never lost one by a whole lot either. That's one thing that we know about this game, it's going to be a stormy sea and we have to be ready for that," he added.

Tweet

Most Read Stories