Defeat out of the question for deadly Dublin

Dublin 1-20 Donegal 0-13: Different week, same old story.

The sight of so many Roscommon fans streaming out of Croke Park after the first of yesterday’s Allianz League semi-finals said as much about the prospects for the second game as the disappointment they clearly felt at the outcome of the opener.

What would they get by staying another few hours, after all? Dublin and Donegal had met at HQ a fortnight earlier and it took 45 minutes for Jim Gavin’s side to wriggle free of the defensive straitjacket. The game ended with just 18 scores posted, but the usual Dublin win.