Dublin dominate dire affair

IF you separated Dublin’s achievement in winning through to their third consecutive Leinster SFC final from the actuality of qualifying in Croke Park yesterday, then you were left with a desperately disappointing game of football.

Just as well that the majority of the huge crowd were home supporters because there was little to enthuse about Offaly’s display other than their commitment to maintaining a stubborn challenge all the way to the finish.

Dublin triumphed as expected, much more easily than the scoreline indicates, and yet the goal which gave them a slightly more respectable margin was extremely fortuitous. It came, from the ever-industrious Alan Brogan, two minutes after the resumption, when a ball punched into the goalmouth was helped into the net by a defender. Given their superior scoring power — with Offaly over-dependant on Niall McNamee, who was largely anonymous in the first half — their followers could justifiably have expected another one or two to emphasise a dominance which looked evident from an early stage. And yet it never really looked like happening.