DUBLIN MANAGER Dessie Farrell says Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion will be returning to the senior football squad next season.

The pair have been key absentees for the Dubs in recent years after they both opted to step away from inter-county football. 2015 Footballer of the Year McCaffrey last featured for the side in their replay victory over Kerry in the 2019 All-Ireland final, while Mannion’s last appearance was their 2020 All-Ireland win against Mayo in 2020.

“The good news is we’ll have Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion rejoining the squad next year,” Farrell told Dublin GAA after today’s quarter-final action in the Dublin senior championship.

“That’ll be a great help to us in terms of the continued development and evolution of the team.

“We’re hoping before the championship ends that we’ll have a sprinkling of one or two other new players to bring in and we look forward to the season ahead.”

DubsTV caught up with Dublin Senior Football manager Dessie Farrell after this weekend’s #GoAheadDSF1 quarter final action! #UpTheDubs pic.twitter.com/l8C5EldtDO

— Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) September 18, 2022

Three-time All-Star Mannion featured in Kilmacud Crokes’ quarter-final victory over Cuala on Saturday night, but was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury.

Elsewhere, the draw for the semi-finals of the Dublin Senior 1 football draw was conducted today, with Ballyboden facing Na Fianna while Thomas Davis will square off with Kilmacud Crokes.

The final-four pairings followed the quarter-final ties which took place this weekend. Kilmacud Crokes and Na Fianna were both victorious yesterday as they overcame Cuala and Whitehall Colmcille respectively. 

Thomas Davis got the better of Castleknock earlier today, with Eamon Conroy grabbing a goal to help his side to a 1-12 to 0-5 win.

Here is the draw for the #GoAheadDSF1 semi finals: @Bodengaa v @clgNaFianna @tomasdaibhis v @KCrokesGAAClub pic.twitter.com/o9CiBwlNKx

— Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) September 18, 2022

In the other quarter-final, Ballyboden came out on top after a high-scoring 3-15 to 3-10 thriller with Ballinteer St John’s. Warren Egan grabbed a brace of goals for the winners while Darren O’Reilly also rattled the net as they survived a late rally from Ballinteer. 

After building up a 10-point lead, Ballinteer posted 2-1 in four minutes to set up a grandstand finish with the goals coming from Fearghal Duffy and David Devereux.

But Ballyboden held on for a narrow win to progress to the semi-finals.

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