Sherlock leads Dubs to last eight but questions remain

Dublin 1-14 Roscommon 0-13

Well Tommy, it is mission accomplished, but whether Dublin will still be around for the fun of the last four in September is an entirely different matter.

Yesterday, in what was their first real challenge of any substance since being turfed out of Leinster, the Dubs did what they had to, but the question marks still remain.

First the positives though, for there were a few for the capital side. Jason Sherlock is in the form of his life and has added long range points to his armoury of tricks, while Alan Brogan continues to notch up a handful of scores without ever hitting the heights of two years ago.

Ciaran Whelan's rehabilitation is ongoing but two points from the running boot yesterday suggest he is worth persevering with at centre-forward. Senan Connell did his fair share without ever taking centre stage, while Ian Robertson again showed his undoubted class and intelligent football brain, despite being the only Dublin starting forward not to make the scoresheet.

From there the questions begin. Conal Keaney still hasn't found his feet at this level, while the midfield combination of Darren Magee and Homan doesn't look any better than the older model with Whelan as its fulcrum.

It's in the back line where Lyons will find most to trouble him, however. Roscommon could, and should, have scored at least one or two goals yesterday. Hard to see Kerry being so kind.

Dublin simply have too many good ball playing defenders and not enough no-nonsense assassins at the back.

The bottom line though is that Dublin shipped the blows Roscommon threw at them and came through without too much damage. From the off, Tommy Carr's side launched themselves at the Dubs, desperate to make amends for the no-show in the Connacht final.

Grehan, off colour at the back for some time now, plied his trade further upfield with considerable success and youngsters like David Casey in midfield and Ger Heneghan up front repaid Carr's faith in them.

With Frankie Dolan and Karol Mannion sitting on the bench, their contributions were always going to be crucial. Their opening salvo left them 0-3 to no score to the good before Dublin came off the ropes.

With 13 minutes gone they were a point in front after four quick points.

Had Roscommon packed up and said their goodnights there and then, few would have been surprised. Instead, to their credit they dug in their heels and went back to work.

With 20 minutes of the half gone and the sides level at 0-5 apiece, Seamus O'Neill flew through the middle and fired a shot far too close to Stephen Cluxton in the Dublin goal.

The Parnells man spilled it but was saved when Nigel Dineen's follow up was somehow sent over the end line by Paul Casey. Still, the points kept ticking over for both sides as half-time approached before Dublin went for the jugular.

Barry Cahill booted a long ball forward towards Alan Brogan who managed to flick it on despite the attentions of Ray Cox and Michael Ryan. From the two-on-one, there had to be a man free somewhere. Unfortunately for Roscommon that man was Sherlock. Seconds later Shane Curran was fishing the ball out of his net.

Cox was then waved ashore by Carr, replaced by John Tiernan but it made little impression on Sherlock. Three more points came from his boot.

Yet, the goal wasn't by any means terminal to the Connacht side's ambitions. At the break they were two points adrift thanks chiefly to young Heneghan's prowess from the placed ball.

Within two minutes of the restart though the deficit had doubled, Whelan and Brogan popping over a sweet pair of points.

At the other end, Roscommon were busy piling up the 'what ifs'. John Hanly was first to look the gift horse in the mouth, taking too long over the ball in front of Cluxton before being bundled over and shooting wide.

Stephen Lohan did better a minute later in firing over a point with a shot on goal there for the taking. Another two Sherlock points were sandwiched by a Heneghan effort from play before Carr had his last throw of the dice. On came Dolan and Mannion after 54 minutes. Lyons followed suit, ordering Dessie Farrell to shed his tracksuit, but two minutes later the Na Fianna man was limping off again with a serious looking knee injury.

Dolan and Mannion tried manfully to engineer the green flag at the other end but failed to make the impression Carr was praying for. Tiernan had their final goal chance ten minutes from the finish, but ended up skewing his shot wide of Cluxton after rounding Brogan in the Dublin area.

However, it was not until Senan Connell popped over an injury time point to widen the gap to four that Dublin's nerves were finally eased.

Not spectacular by any means but mission accomplished all the same.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; B Cahill, P Christie, C Goggins; P Casey, B Cullen (0-2, 1 45), P Griffin; D Homan (0-1), D Magee; J Sherlock (1-4), C Whelan (0-2), S Connell (0-1); A Brogan (0-3), I Robertson, C Keaney (0-1f). Subs: S Ryan for Goggins 49 mins, D Farrell for Keaney 56 mins, T Quinn for Farrell 62 mins.

ROSCOMMON: S Curran; R Cox, M Ryan, J Whyte; A McPadden, F Grehan, E Towey; S O'Neill (0-1), D Casey; G Cox (0-1), J Hanly, S Lohan (0-3); J Dunning, N Dineen (0-2), G Heneghan (0-5). Subs: J Tiernan for Cox 31 mins, K Mannion for Lohan 51 mins, J Rogers for Towey 54 mins, F Dolan for Dunning 54 mins, B Higgins for Hanky 65 mins.

REFEREE: J Geaney (Cork).