Dineen admits young Rossies were simply ‘blown away’

Seven points two years ago, nine points two days ago.

Draw a straight line through the meetings of Dublin and Roscommon in two of the last three All-Ireland U21 finals and it conveys the impression that, yes, the gap is growing between the men from the capital and the rest beyond the Pale.

The entrails of the two fixtures only lends weight to the argument. It took a late rally of 1-5 for Dublin to pull through in 2012. Saturday was far more comfortable. A sixth All-Ireland in five seasons in all major grades: bagged before the trot back to the dressing rooms at half-time.

They’ve always had the numbers, but the addition of extra funds, the input of key people and a proven system and structure have finally maximised that advantage. There is an aura developing around the Dublin footballers that is suggestive of a monopoly.

“People are kind of saying that,” said Roscommon manager Nigel Dineen. “The resources are there and they have the big pick, but you can still only put 15 out on the pitch. It’s hard to know but the next year or two will tell a tale about Dublin football and the rest of the country.”

It was easy to fear that the future may well be blue for the other 31 counties as Dublin tore a very good Roscommon team apart for the opening 30 minutes and Dineen didn’t even have the solace of knowing that the victors trumped him with the unexpected.

Roscommon prepared for the musical chairs that Dublin would play in their forward line. They saw the consistency with which Dessie Farrell’s side used the short kick-out routine too, but knowing about it and doing something about it were two very different things.

“Dublin just blew us away in the first 30 minutes and we had no answers to them,” Dineen admitted. “We said at the start that we had to push up on their main men and we just left them loose. It was stuff we had discussed all week, to push up on their kick-outs, and they kicked one short one after another and just built from there.”

It was a cruel way for a season of such promise to end for Roscommon. The Division 3 league title claimed by their seniors in Croke Park the weekend before seemed to serve as the ideal appetiser and thousands of their kin made the trip to Tullamore.

“We knew we would have that support behind us,” said Dineen. “It was about performing on the pitch and we just didn’t do it in the first half.”

For Roscommon, it is the latest failure in the county’s bid to make the most of a recent upsurge in this grade in Connacht where they have claimed the title three times in the last five seasons.

As Dineen remarked, All-Ireland finals don’t come around all that often.

Unless you are Dublin, it seems.