Dempsey dubs Dublin All-Ireland ‘dark horses’ after rout

Dublin 2-23 Longford 0-10

Yes, they racked up a cricket score. Yes, they showed more bite than in the entire last two years under Tommy Lyons. And yes, Longford manager Luke Dempsey has tipped them as possible All-Ireland dark horses on the evidence of what he described as yesterday’s “embarrassment.”

Dublin fans will undoubtedly gush excitedly about what they saw from the Hill, about how their six forwards and two midfielders all got on the score-sheet, about how dangerous Alan Brogan and Conal Keaney looked and about Shane Ryan’s latest tour-de-force from centre field.

The defence won’t elicit too much discussion though, as little was asked of them by the Midlanders.

Longford simply weren’t at the races. Bereft of talents like David Blessington, Trevor Smullen and Liam Keenan through their spine, they were further weakened by Paul Barden and Niall Sheridan’s lack of match practice.

With such a soft centre, Longford managed to stay in touch for all of 25 minutes, but the match was already dead as a contest with 15 minutes to go when Dublin proceeded to rack up the last nine points of the day.

Dublin manager Paul Caffrey couldn’t have asked for an easier bow into championship management, yet he was far from elated by the turkey shoot he had just witnessed.

“It wasn’t what we were expecting out there. We gave Longford due respect going into this game and we wouldn’t have been happy with a lot of aspects to our play, particularly in the first half.

“The last 15 minutes probably didn’t do either team any good and that’s when the real gloss was put on the scoreline.”

Caffrey even preferred to admonish Brogan and Keaney - who managed 2-7 between them - for their first-half failings rather than laud them for their second-period flourishes, but he did admit that pre-match anxiety had been soothed by the game.

“In the dressing room beforehand there were a lot of anxious faces about, a lot of fellas with bad memories of two bad performances here last year, particularly against Kerry. There was a lot of downhearted lads in the Dublin dressing room that day.

“All in all, fellas are relieved to get a win and a performance under their belts.”

It should certainly be some time before Dublin face as limp a challenge as that which awaited them here in Croke Park but, even with all of Longford’s failings, it was impossible to ignore the sheer appetite Dublin displayed for the battle, a point Luke Dempsey picked up on as well.

“Dublin’s performance in the second half showed that they are a fine football team, physically strong, with men all over the field competing.

“A feature of their performance, that I hadn’t seen for two years, was their hunger in the tackle. Their forwards tackled tenaciously and that’s down to Paul Caffrey. I thought Dublin were awesome and they will feel that they can go all the way in Leinster if they can keep up that relentless pace.

“If they got a run at it, they could even go the whole way; that’s my honest opinion. Dublin are as good as is out there.”

While that may be stretching the point too far, there is no argument that this game was all-but decided by half-time. Dublin were 1-8 to 0-5 in front, Longford scoring just one point from play in the half though championship debutant Brian Kavanagh.

Even if Stephen Cluxton did have to deny Niall Sheridan a goal on six minutes, Longford were virtually toothless in attack with their big full-forward being under-utilised all game.

Longford managed five more points after the interval, three from Sheridan gobbling up high balls, but by and large, this was an un-engaging affair.

However, in Mossy Quinn, Dublin may finally have a free-taker capable of finding a groove like that found by Ray Cosgrove three years ago. On paper, Dublin’s half-back line won’t strike fear into teams, while for all the energy Ciaran Whelan and Shane Ryan expended yesterday, their midfield is still far from a dominant force.

Much still to ponder then for Caffrey as he begins plans to take on the old enemy Meath in the Leinster quarter-final in three weeks’ time.

As he admitted, the mere mention of the Royals will be enough to refocus the minds in the weeks to follow.

“Absolutely, yeah. This Dublin-Meath thing just takes on a life of its own after a while. What happened here will have zero relevance going forward.”

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; P Griffin, P Christie, S O’Shaughnessy; P Casey, B Cahill, C Goggins (0-1); C Whelan (0-1), S Ryan (0-1); C Moran (0-1), A Brogan (1-3), B Cullen (0-2); J Sherlock (0-1), C Keaney (1-4), T Quinn (0-5, 3f). Subs: M Vaughan (0-2) for Moran 50, D O’Mahony for Whelan 60, D O’Callaghan (0-1) for Quinn 60, D Homan for Keaney 64, S Connell for Brogan 68.

LONGFORD: D Sheridan, D Brady, C Conefrey, E Ledwith; A O’Connor, D Glennon, D Reilly; P O’Hara, B McElvaney; J Martin (0-1), P Barden, P Dowd; B Kavanagh (0-1), N Sheridan (0-1), P Davis (0-7, 6f). Subs: S Lynch for Glennon 35, M Connor for McElvaney 41, T Glendenning for O’Hara 48, M Lennon for Martin 59, D Corcoran for Lynch 59.

Referee: P Russell (Tipperary).