A brighter day for Brennan's new blue Dublin wave
Roscommon's Colm Neary with Seán Bugler of Dublin. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom O’Hanlon
This is how it goes. Dublin’s new wave was never going to bed in seamlessly and the transition was always going to result in some dull days as well as light. This was one of the brighter ones.
The National League is a peculiar beast. The most consistent team in the top division has been Armagh and yet they sit in the bottom two with one win, four losses and a positive score difference. Dublin looked assured away from home. The efficiency that underpinned Roscommon’s victory last weekend was conspicuously absent here. Make sense of that.
A ferocious start combined with some ragged Roscommon finishing left them in a commanding position at the break, 1-14 to 1-1 up. They went hunting orange flags with the wind at their backs and landed five of them. It was a remarkable return given they had only kicked seven from 31 attempts across their previous four games and were without captain Con O’Callaghan.
“It is probably consistency,” said Ger Brennan of their improvement. “Fellas getting used to each other. What the position might be to play different guys on the pitch.
“Looking at Roscommon's threats today, to get some of the match-ups correct there which for the most part worked well. The match-up there with Diarmuid Murtagh, Daire Cregg and Enda Smith as well. So that was pleasing. We plan and prepare for every game, similar to what we prepared for the game today.”
At one end, Roscommon missed their opening ten shots including a glorious goal chance that was squandered three times. Enda Smith had his effort well saved, Murtagh hit the post with the rebound and Conor Carroll missed the eventual 45. From one of several short kick-outs, Dublin beat Carroll from the counter-attack. Killian McGinnis’s effort was wayward but Luke Breathnach was well placed to tap in at the back post.
They flooded bodies inside the 21-metre line to create space for two-point kickers. Niall Scully, Paddy Small, Eoin Kennedy and Sean Bugler all delivered from play. Goalkeeper Hugh O’Sullivan came forward to land one from range. Even when the home side did eventually score it was the result of a miss, Conor Hand clipping the post and Cregg pouncing first.
Hand was one of several St Brigid’s players to make their return on Sunday.
“We felt they were ready to go in today,” said manager Mark Dowd.
“That is what we had seen it in training. You know, we were happy with the way they were going. I suppose that was the question you had posed to me the last number of weeks. We felt they weren't ready then, but we felt they were this week.”
The home support in the 7,819 crowd never had cause to really roar behind their team. Smith scuffed another goal chance from the throw-in. They scored one two-pointer from five efforts. Dylan Ruane palmed in a goal but two other green-flag opportunities were butchered.
In contrast, the way Dublin worked the clock against the wind was impressive. They enjoyed long stretches of possession with Ciaran Kilkenny dictating the tempo. Eoin Murchan broke forward in numerous creative switch-overs on the halfway line. Liam Smith became their 11th debutant from this campaign.
With relegation-threatened Galway and Armagh to come, Dublin’s outlook suddenly looks healthier. There is a lesson in that somewhere for Roscommon as well. The year is long and one flat result doesn’t erase the promise of their three previous wins.
You are not going to go through a Division 1 campaign winning every game,” said Dowd.
“And lads know that. There are smart guys in there. They're leaving the dressing room there and they're not happy with the performance today.
“And as we said to them, it is a case of let's go back Wednesday night and work on it and go from there again.”
L. Breathnach 1-1; S. Bugler (tp), N. Scully (1tp, 2f) 0-4; P. Small (1 tp, 1 f) 0-3; H. O’Sullivan (tpf), E. Kennedy (tp), K. McGinnis 0-2 each; A. Gavin, R. McGarry, C. McMorrow 0-1 each.
D. Cregg 1-1; D. Ruane 1-0; D. Murtagh 0-2 (tp); R. Heneghan, E. Colleran, C. Keogh, S. Lambe 0-1 each.
H. O’Sullivan; E. Murchan, N. Doran, D. Byrne; E. Kennedy, B. Howard, A. Gavin; C. McMorrow, P. Ó Cofaigh Byrne; C. Kilkenny, S. Bugler, P. Small; L. Breathnach, K. McGinnis, N. Scully.
L. Smith for Murchan (2-3, Temp); G. McEneaney for Kennedy (52); N. O’Callaghan for Small (58); J. Lundy for Breathnach (63); R. McGarry for Kilkenny (68), L. Smith for Murchan (69).
C. Carroll; P. Gavin, C. Keogh, C. Neary; E. Ward, R. Daly, S. Lambe; K. Doyle, R. Fallon; D. Ruane, E. Smith, C. Hand; D. Murtagh, D. Cregg, R. Heneghan.
: J. Duggan for Fallon (half-time); C. Lennon for Hand (43); E. Colleran for Heneghan (46); N. Higgins for Daly (58); P. Carey for Ruane (62).
C. Lane (Cork).
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