Changed, changed utterly. Time was when Dublin could roll into league fixtures like these and soak the locals in glamour and good vibes before scooting away with a double figures victory. No more. Yesterday Sligo stole victory with an injury time goal which, while it had elements of fortune about it, gave them a win which was well-earned on the basis of the preceding hour.
They begin the construction of a splendid, £250,000 covered stand in Markievicz Park this morning. It will be ready for the spring. On yesterday's evidence, Sligo will have the team to do it justice.
For Dublin, it was an eerily familiar storyline. Bad start, gradual self-assertion and then the clattering sound of wheels coming off. They were hit for two second-half goals and lost their best performer, Paul Bealin, for a needlessly silly second bookable offence.
Dublin have work to do. Five years ago, the last time the GAA shuffled its league, Dublin came to Sligo and ran in 18 points as an indication of the sort of form that would bring them the league title later that season.
Yesterday, not having played competitive football since early summer, Dublin looked rusty. Sligo, who have greatly narrowed the gap on the serious counties, have shed their naivete and played with vigour and belief all the way through. It will be argued in the capital that Dublin were missing a number of top players. Sligo, however, were similarly bereft. What will alarm Dublin followers more than the defeat to a respectable and developing team - and more than the prospect of having to face three current provincial champions in the remainder of the league campaign - is the thought that Jonathan McGee of Kilmacud was the only real new face on display yesterday.
Declan Darcy has arrived and his seriousness of purpose and intelligent football is an obvious boon, but it is a serious misreading of last summer's Leinster exit if Dublin are to proceed on the basis that they were just a shade off of being contenders.
The full forward line still cries out for reliable scorers. Darcy played at centre forward yesterday and may take the number 14 jersey when Dessie Farrell concludes his sabbatical.
That is one problem solved, perhaps, but who will ride shotgun with him? Robbie Boyle, who has promised more good things than all five presidential candidates, had to be hauled off yesterday. Martin Doran and Martin Barnes gave further weight to the argument that their good club form will never translate to the county stage.
Contrast all that with Sligo's economical attack. Whereas Dublin relied too often on the early ball to the struggling Robbie Boyle, Sligo sprayed it around with aplomb. At full forward, Paul Taylor is a formidable force and he gave as serious a footballer as Ian Robertson plenty to mull over. In midfield, Eamon O'Hara, despite his lack of inches, gave a display which was the equal of the tour de force which Bealin submitted before his dismissal.
Sligo had come out of their dressing room determined to show a few of their doubters a thing or two. "Pat Spillane and a few other people had a go at us in the summer," said Eamon O'Hara afterwards. "That's what we said to ourselves coming out, that we would show them what we could do."
As such, they scored the first four points of the afternoon and generally cut into a Dublin side which was still shaking the stiffness out of itself. Typical of their confidence was their third point, scored by their Belfast-based centre back Nigel Clancy, who burst through for a fine point on 13 minutes.
Dublin found their rhythm midway through the half, however, and with Bealin beginning to exert an influence in the middle of the field they got to half-time on level terms.
Fittingly, Bealin started the scoring after the break and he and Dublin's other leading light, Declan Darcy, compiled five points in the space of a quarter-of-an-hour.
Sligo were losing the battle on the scoreboard but hanging in there on the pitch. The Dublin half back line was having to work hard to track down the constant movement in the Sligo attack, and if it hadn't been for the number of wides Sligo ran in, Dublin might have had a keener sense of impending peril.
Even when Bealin was sent to the line with 10 minutes left for a second bookable offence, this time a foul on Clancy, Dublin couldn't have suspected that they were about to be mugged.
With six minutes left, however, they found themselves in what might be termed a bad area. Brian Walsh slung a long pass into the heart of the Dublin defence. Several defenders were wrong-footed. Ken Killeen took possession and slipped a lovely hand-pass to Taylor who was behind the last Dublin line and had only Davy Byrne to beat. No sooner said than done.
That brought the teams back to level. To their credit, Dublin stole the momentum back again. Darcy converted another free kick.
For their part, Sligo missed a kickable free. Then, as normal time elapsed, Peter Ward popped up and stuck over another point. Indeed he might have had a goal but took the option of cautiously finishing out.
By then many of the 3,000 crowd were streaming out to beat the traffic. They missed the scorpion sting. O'Hara took possession off Des Keaveney and took a rasping shot from about 35 yards out. The ball deflected freakishly off a couple of fingertips and came to rest in the back of the Dublin net.
