Dubs king Con released from the depths to ravage Rossies
EFFECTIVE: Dublin’s Con O'Callaghan and Brian Stack of Roscommon. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Perhaps Con O'Callaghan owes a thank you to his father, Maurice.
Joe Brolly brought it to the public's attention a couple of weeks ago that he'd bumped into Maurice O'Callaghan, a former Dublin footballer himself, and that he'd expressed concerns about Con's deep positioning.
The elder O'Callaghan apparently bemoaned how Dessie Farrell has Con, a natural playmaker and score-poacher, 'dropping into the defence. I don't understand it'.
Brolly's personal assessment was that King Con 'used to be Diego Maradona. Now he is James Milner'.
The six-time All-Ireland winner was back to Maradona on Saturday night. Curiously, Con wore number nine but played at full-forward and tormented Brian Stack for the duration. O'Callaghan scored seven points, five from play with one point from an advanced mark and the other from a free he won himself.
He also won a free that David O'Hanlon converted and generally wreaked havoc. Whatever prompted it, moving O'Callaghan to full-forward certainly suited him and we'll surely see more of it.
"Very good," was Farrell's assessment of O'Callaghan's display. "It was good to get him back into the inside line. He played at midfield for us against Mayo out of necessity with so many injuries and fellas not available to us. So it was good and the way the game opened up suited Con as well. We were able to get him some ball in good positions and he definitely played really well. We are very happy with it."
Dublin got a big break in the 17th minute when the excellent Daire Cregg - fresh off a terrific Sigerson Cup final display - hand-passed to the net following a deflection off defender Sean MacMahon. Referee Sean Hurson consulted his umpires and, apparently unaware of the MacMahon flick, gave a free out.
Roscommon manager Davy Burke was furious with the error and said his team also created five goal chances and only put away one of them, from Enda Smith late on.
But Dublin also struck seven first-half wides, 10 across the whole game, and you couldn't say they weren't full value for this win.
With Con closer to goal and Sean Bugler pulling the strings magnificently - Bugler scored a point, set up three and provided the surging run for Niall Scully's 55th minute game-breaking goal - the All-Ireland champions thrilled.
They led 0-8 to 0-7 at half-time and ratcheted up the intensity in the second half. They had 10 different scores and welcomed back Brian Howard for his seasonal return.
Beforehand, there were tributes to selector and logistics manager Shane O'Hanlon who passed away suddenly while in Spain the previous weekend.
"We can't believe he is not with us...a special man..." said Farrell, struggling to contain his emotions. "It was very surreal."
The funeral mass of the St Vincent's man will take place on Tuesday morning in Raheny.
"It was very hard during the week," said Farrell of the buildup to the Round 3 tie. "It's still not over, the funeral is this week coming. So it's not going to go away in a hurry. That's how much he meant to everybody, he was just such a special man. It will take us a long time."
The strong performance amounted to a fitting tribute. The win has eased relegation fears though there are no guarantees of back-to-back successes with Kerry the visitors to Croke Park this Saturday.
With 47 different players already looked at this year - Stephen Cluxton and Michael Fitzsimons have yet to return - Farrell said it's less about avoiding relegation or winning the league than building for the Championship.
"Obviously you want to be winning games but I don't think we're going to get hung up on league status," he said. "We were (relegated) before obviously and we want to retain our status. Some people thought it would be the end of the world to get relegated and then we won the Championship out of Division 2. In some ways, it's an easier place to give fellas time, to expose younger players. You can do it here, of course, in Division 1, if results don't matter. And we have been trying to do that. Some of it has been forced upon us too because fellas aren't around."
Roscommon desperately want to stay in Division 1 but need points now after two losses and a draw. In his TG4 interview after Saturday's game, Burke lamented that despite 65 training sessions so far this season, he still hasn't had his full squad together.
On the Cregg goal that wasn't given, Burke was frustrated and blamed the umpires for that and a similar decision that went against Roscommon when playing Tyrone.
"It wasn't either referee who got those decisions wrong, it was his men with him that got it wrong and that's tough when you're training every day," said Burke.
C O'Callaghan (0-7, 1 free, 1 mark); N Scully (1-0); R McGarry (0-3); C Kilkenny, B Fenton (0-2); L Gannon, J Small, D O'Hanlon (1 free), S Bugler, L O'Dell (0-1 each).
E Smith (1-2); D Cregg (0-4, 1 mark, 1 free); D Murtagh (0-3); C Cox, F Fitzpatrick, R Fallon (0-1 each).
D O'Hanlon; T Clancy, E Murchan, S MacMahon; L Gannon, J Small, C Murphy; B Fenton, P O Cofaigh Byrne; R McGarry, S Bugler, C Kilkenny; C Costello, C O'Callaghan, P Small.
S Lowry for Costello (8-f/t, blood); N Scully for Lowry (47); L O'Dell for P Small (50); G McEneaney for J Small (55); B Howard for O Cofaigh Byrne (62); K McGinnis for McGarry (71).
C Carroll; D Murray, B Stack, N Higgins; C Hussey, E Flynn, E McCormack; S Cunnane, R Fallon; D Cregg, D Ruane, E Smith; J Fitzpatrick, D Murtagh, C Lennon.
C Heneghan for Fitzpatrick & R Dolan for Hussey (50); C Cox for Lennon (55); A McDermott for Ruane (62); L Glennon for Higgins (67).
S Hurson (Tyrone)
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