LATE DUBLIN SURGE SEES OFF ROSCOMMON IN FRONT OF TINY CROKE PARK CROWD

Roscommon 0-13

Kevin Egan reports from Croke Park

FOR DUBLIN, IT will be seen as another step forward in their title defence. For detractors of modern football and the dominance of Dessie Farrell’s side, this will be seen as yet another indictment of the dismal state of inequality within the game.

There was no official attendance number this evening but estimates of around 12,000 supporters were made, and this showed in the complete lack of tension or excitement in the stadium. But that suited Roscommon just fine for long stretches, as Dublin struggled to break out of their torpor and the Rossies hung in well thanks to a remarkably efficient shooting display.

Despite showing incredible marksmanship, with all 13 points coming from their inside forwards and just two wides in the first 55 minutes and two more thereafter, Roscommon were still blown away in the final five minutes, when Dublin finished off with 2-2, making short work of an opponent that are clearly a top ten side.

Moments where the small crowd were engaged in the game were rare, as that late statement of dominance looked particularly inevitable.

Dublin were the better team in most areas of the field, but Jack McCaffrey’s introduction certainly helped as he picked up a couple of important breaking balls off kickouts, Seán Bugler came off the bench to kick two excellent late scores, and for good measure Colm Basquel was eager to make an impression and he did exactly that with a goal that broke Roscommon’s resistance.

There were five minutes remaining when Con O’Callaghan got out in front to field a perfectly delivered low ball and lay it off to his Ballyboden colleague. A quick exchange of passes with Brian Fenton – who was doing his usual thing of dominating final quarters after wearing down his opponents up to that – left Basquel with just Conor Carroll to beat.

A low finish into the left corner did that, and with the last traces of risk eliminated, Dublin eased home with another 1-2 for emphasis, including 1-1 from O’Callaghan.

A 12-point margin felt a little unfair on Roscommon, who defended diligently – conceding just two scoreable frees all game – and managed the game quite well, within the context of being clearly second best in a lot of sectors of the field.

Three points from Fenton, Ross McGarry and Paul Mannion in the first five minutes probably confirmed the All-Ireland champions’ suspicion that this was going to be a relatively straightforward contest, but from there, Roscommon were happy to settle into a tit-for-tat scoring contest, never trailing by more than three but never running the risk of waking Dublin up and drawing level either.

Davy Burke’s side responded brilliantly to Eoin McCormack’s black card in the 30th minute, firing over the last two points of the first half. Likewise after the break they made the most of very little good attacking possession, and Diarmuid Murtagh’s point in the 49th minute to make it 0-13 to 0-12 – where he recovered very well after slipping in possession – was typical of their remarkable husbandry.

A needless foul by Daire Cregg to allow Cormac Costello his first pointed free of the game didn’t fit into that plan however, and the introduction of Bugler in particular left them with one too many holes to plug in the closing minutes. Dublin didn’t need an invite to pillage the westerners in what was yet another bloodless, predictable finish in front of a small, unenthusiastic audience.

Scorers for Dublin: Con O’Callaghan 1-4, Colm Basquel 1-0, Paul Mannion, Ross McGarry, Niall Scully (0-1m), Brian Fenton, Seán Bugler, Cormac Costello (0-2f) 0-2 each, Cian Murphy, John Small, Tom Lahiff 0-1 each.

Scorers for Roscommon: Diarmuid Murtagh 0-5 (0-3f), Daire Cregg 0-4 (0-1f), Conor Cox 0-4 (0-1m).

DUBLIN

1 Stephen Cluxton (Parnells)

2 Eoin Murchan (Na Fianna), 3 Mick Fitzsimons (Cuala), 4 Cian Murphy (Thomas Davis)

18 Brian Howard (Raheny), 6 John Small (Ballymun Kickhams), 5 Seán MacMahon (Raheny)

8 Brian Fenton (Raheny), 9 Tom Lahiff (St. Jude’s)

13 Paul Mannion (Kilmacud Crokes, 14 Con O’Callaghan (Cuala), 10 Niall Scully (Templeogue Synge Street)

20 Ross McGarry (Ballyboden St. Enda’s), 11 Cormac Costello (Whitehall Colmcille), 12 Ciarán Kilkenny (Castleknock)

Subs: Seán Bugler (Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh) for Mannion (45), Jack McCaffrey (Clontarf) for Lahiff (47), Colm Basquel (Ballyboden St. Enda’s) for Scully (52 mins), Paddy Small (Ballymun Kickhams) for McGarry (52), Theo Clancy (Kilmacud Crokes) for Murphy (63).

ROSCOMMON

1 Conor Carroll (Oranmore Maree)

6 Robbie Dolan (St. Brigid’s), 3 Brian Stack (St. Brigid’s), 2 David Murray (Pádraig Pearses)

4 Niall Higgins (Elphin), 5 Niall Daly (Pádraig Pearses), 7 Eoin McCormack (St. Dominic’s)

8 Enda Smith (Boyle), 9 Tadhg O’Rourke (Tulsk)

10 Dylan Ruane (Michael Glaveys), 11 Donie Smith (Boyle), 12 Ciarán Lennon (Clann na nGael)

15 Diarmuid Murtagh (St. Faithleach’s), 14 Daire Cregg (Boyle), 13 Conor Cox (Éire Óg)

Subs: Ultan Harney (Clann na nGael) for Donie Smith (42), Shane Cunnane (St. Brigid’s) for O’Rourke (42), Ruaidhrí Fallon (St. Brigid’s) for Daly (50), Ben O’Carroll (St. Brigid’s) for Ruane (55), Keith Doyle (St. Dominic’s) for Cox (70).

Referee: Derek O’Mahoney (Tipperary).

2024-05-25T19:13:19Z dg43tfdfdgfd