Quinn-essential Mossie a Freeman on the Hill

ANOTHER Sunday and another hero for the Dubs to worship. Going into yesterday’s game, Alan Brogan and Conal Keaney were the apples of the eye for the denizens of Hill 16.

But Mossie Quinn was the man they made their toasts to last night.

Quinn and Jayo, of course. Ten years on from the glory of ‘95 and the impish little corner-forward can still do no wrong. His goal will merely add gloss to his legend when he finally hangs up the boots, but Quinn was the big story here.

A fortnight ago against Meath his missed frees almost cost Dublin the game, this time he saved them from the abyss of the qualifiers. Eight of his ten scores came from dead balls, a game-winning contribution on a day when Brogan, Keaney and Mark Vaughan never quite managed to square their sights in front of goal.

Yet again Paul Caffrey’s loyalty to a player off his game has paid dividends, though he didn’t see it that way himself afterwards. “It’s a game of 20, 22 players and Mark Vaughan is disappointed the same way as Jayo was disappointed the last day. Nobody wants to be taken off after 35 minutes but it is about getting a balance. Some days fellas do well and some days they don’t.

“Jayo came in today and did well and it’s great to see him score a goal again at the Hill end. Mossie is a good footballer as well and we weren’t going to lose confidence in him after one bad day at the office.”

The most disappointing aspect of the day for Caffrey was the news that corner-back Stephen O’Shaughnessy - the one player to play consistently well for the first two games - had apparently dislocated his left shoulder in the first half. If so he may sit out the rest of the campaign.

Though he would be missed, Caffrey’s mantra is that individuals don’t win games any more than managers do. Football is a team game and it was the collective belief and commitment that dragged Dublin into another Leinster final yesterday, he contended.

“I’ve yet to see a manager who has won a game from the sideline. It really is about the players coping with things out there. Great credit to the lads. I thought there was great pride in the Dublin performance there today.

“We looked better than they did in the second half and maybe their heads went down after we got the goal at the Hill end. That was the turnaround.”

Pat Roe’s emotions were understandably at the far end of the scale. The fact that they looked the gift horse in the mouth will sit uneasily with them as they contemplate the road ahead in the qualifiers.

“We felt there was a stage in the game where we were on top. We were four points up and we just couldn’t push on from there. When we analyse it we’ll see that a lot of Dublin scores came from counter-attacks and turnover ball. That’s very disappointing.

“At the crucial moment we just weren’t able to shut the door when we had to.”