McGeeney can’t argue with fact

FORGET Pat Gilroy’s claims Bernard Brogan had deserved the free by the law of averages.

Forget Kieran McGeeney’s assertions Andriú Mac Lochlainn did nothing wrong. The scoreline stands. Dublin won. Kildare lost. We have a result.

That should be the end of that — but of course it isn’t. Kildare will pore over the TV footage that was far from conclusive in establishing whether Mac Lochlainn had illegitimately prevented Brogan from running to the kick into space two minutes into injury-time.

On that basis, they will cry their man was hard done by but was he, really?

The view of this writer from the press box showed referee Cormac Reilly was correct to award the free, with Mac Lochlainn preventing Brogan from getting to the ball, much to the frustration of the Dublin forward. However cute Mac Lochlainn was, he had done enough to check Brogan’s initial moves towards gaining possession.

From a strictly rules point of view, Reilly was spot-on but like so many tight calls it all comes down to interpretation. As Gilroy rightly pointed out afterwards, plenty of similar fouls are never whistled by referees.

So when it is argued Mac Lochlainn was harshly treated, what rules are being applied? Are we accepting what Mac Lochlainn did is par for the course?

It is a debate that will continue for another couple of days but by then Kildare will be back training, intent on keeping their 100% qualifier record intact under McGeeney.

Dublin, meanwhile, will already have their thoughts trained on Wexford and regaining the Delaney Cup lost last year.

Their entry into the final looked all but secure until the last minute of normal time when Eamonn Callaghan kicked a low 20-yard shot past Stephen Cluxton.

Two minutes later, Callaghan received Tomás O’Connor’s pass to level the game for the first time since the 20th minute and the Leinster Council appeared to be in clover.

But Brogan’s free, his fifth of the game, dashed any hopes of a replay bonanza and handed Dublin the win they should have ensured minutes earlier.

Even with 14 men, after Eoghan O’Gara was dismissed for a second yellow card five minutes into the second-half, Dublin looked decidedly composed for long stretches.

Although at times it was just Alan and Bernard Brogan in the final third of the pitch, they were doing more than enough to keep Kildare at arm’s length.

Trailing 1-7 to 0-4 at the break, Kildare’s habit of keeping their best football until the second half suggested Dublin’s lead would be eroded.

With the help of O’Gara’s dismissal, it was reduced to two in the 44th minute. Riding a few Dublin tackles, Eoghan O’Flaherty added a second point to the one he scored just 28 seconds after the interval.

A Mac Lochlainn goal-line intervention denied Alan Brogan a goal in the 43rd minute but the initiative was certainly with Kildare.

Callaghan and substitute Rob Kelly pointed and then Kelly, almost shooting on sight, swung over another after Paul Flynn had curled a kick of his own.

Flynn, who was integral to most of the good things Dublin did yesterday, made his second major dispossession of the game which led to a Bernard Brogan free.

But in true tit-for-tat style, Bolton responded before Stephen Cluxton punted over a 45 to add to his first-half free.

With his younger brother screaming at the end of the square for a pass, Alan Brogan elected to take the safe option and fist over his second point of the game in the 63rd minute to give Dublin a 1-11 to 0-10 cushion.

And that’s where things were before Callaghan’s late flurry and Reilly’s even later decision.

As much as Dublin will be pleased, there will be doubts as to why they couldn’t protect the lead.

They weren’t expected to keep that six-point half-time lead but considering how well they finished out the first half that league final collapse to Cork may have crept into their minds.

Living up to their reputation, Kildare started slowly, not scoring until O’Flaherty’s 12th-minute free.

Two minutes later, they were ahead when O’Flaherty and Ronan Sweeney profited from Dublin’s struggle to retrieve their own kick-outs.

However, the Dublin half-forwards’ remarkable work-rate was compensating for such losses and had Kildare under incredible pressure.

The Brogans had Dublin back in front, 0-4 to 0-3, in the 22nd minute. Two minutes later came Flynn’s goal, a score he started in turning over Gary White and finished to the net despite momentarily losing control of the ball when advancing toward Shane Connolly’s goal.

Kildare looked stunned and had just Johnny Doyle’s free to show for the remainder of the half as Bernard Brogan wreaked havoc, scoring one from play, another from a free and then drawing a foul from Lyons in first-half injury-time which Cluxton drove over.

Brogan would repeat the dose in the second half, on hand to make the most of his own spoils.

He probably should have won a lot more given the attention devoted to him by the Kildare backs. But he won’t argue about it. Not this morning.

Scorers for Dublin: B Brogan 0-6 (5f); P Flynn 1-1, A Brogan, S Cluxton (1f, 1 45) 0-2 each; B Cullen 0-1.

Scorers for Kildare: E O’Flaherty 0-4 (1f); E Callaghan 1-2; R Kelly 0-2; J Doyle (1f), R Sweeney, E Bolton 0-1 each.

Subs for Dublin: E Fennell for Macauley (ht), K McManamon for Connolly (54), D Lally for Flynn (61), R McConnell for Bastick (66), B Cahill for Cullen (68).

Subs for Kildare: A Mac Lochlainn for White (29), R Kelly for Smith (29), C Brophy for Lyons (38), S Hurley for Sweeney (48), T O’Connor for Hurley (65).

Referee: C Reilly (Meath).