GAELIC GAMES/Monaghan 1-11 Dublin 0-7: The league has been a little topsy turvy, and with shock results pouring in from hither and yon at Parnell Park yesterday, the feeling that Dublin had been mugged dissipated quickly. Being beaten by Monaghan just made the home side part of an irresistible trend.
Still. In the real world behind the dressing-room door, what happened will bother the Dublin management slightly more than whatever suspensions come down from on high after last week's shenanigans which shocked a nation to the core of its being, etc, etc.
The prevailing feeling in Dublin football is that - ugly though it might have been - Dublin stood up for themselves in Omagh. What happened there had a context.
As regards yesterday in Parnell Park, it is hard to reach anything like a unanimous verdict. Pillar Caffrey declined to blame heavy training or the fall-out from last week for his side's low-wattage performance.
"That's the way it goes," the Dublin manager said. "Second round. We're on two points and Monaghan are on two. The harder we tried, the worse we got. We've played them three times in the last 12 months.
"They're a good outfit, Monaghan. They play a nice brand of football. All week long we anticipated it.
"Anyone involved with Dublin will be very disappointed with that performance. We created a lot of chances today. The bottom line is Division One is hugely competitive."
It is competitive, and with trips to Kerry and Cork looming Dublin might have been hoping two points would give them a little margin for error later on.
The news before throw-in was good. As expected, having been given an unexpected reprieve in midweek, Alan Brogan was restored to the starting line-up. That he was yet again Dublin's best forward will be some cause for concern. For so young a player to be carrying a forward line from which so much is expected is not healthy.
Yesterday brought problems for Dublin where previously there had been solutions.
Despite an early point, Kevin Bonner struggled at full forward and, along with David O'Callaghan and Derek Murray, was substituted out of a forward line which managed just three points from play.
Denis Bastick was filleted at midfield by Eoin Lennon, and the Dublin full back line was in trouble for Monaghan's first score, a point by Tommy Freeman, who nipped in behind the defence right through the game.
Séamus McEnaney's tactic of isolating Freeman and Rory Woods inside worked perfectly, and were it not for a little wastefulness and a save or two from Stephen Cluxton, the margin would have been wider.
Monaghan came to town and played a nice, robust brand of direct football. They battled well and moved the ball quickly and knew exactly what they wanted to do.
"There was a lot of hype (after Omagh)," said full forward Rory Woods, "it might have took their minds off it. We came and did a job. Any time you beat Dublin in league or championship is good, but we're an up-and-coming team, we knew we could come here and beat them.
"All the pressure in the media was on Dublin. We just came and played football."
Woods' contribution was larger than his statistics suggested. He served as a target man and a distributor while Freeman flitted and dodged around him. The double act worked well.
Dublin cancelled out Freeman's early point with a fisted score from Bonner, but from then on they struggled.
Monaghan scored four of the next five points as the referee seemed to regard last weekend's high-water mark of 14 yellow cards in Omagh as a personal challenge. There were a lot of soft cards given (four to each team), but nobody was in the mood for complaining.
Two Mossy Quinn frees midway through the first half were the only scores Dublin managed to string together in succession. And for that they were chastised with the only goal.
Freeman pulled down a high Hail Mary of a ball from Stephen Gollogly on the edge of the square, turned and left-footed it home.
Monaghan didn't cower in anticipation of a response. They nailed the next three scores, all from play. The middle score of the sequence saw Freeman and Hugh McElroy lace together a couple of passes before McElroy nicked a splendid score.
The second half brought a change of referee , Pat McGovern having been injured (hamstring). John Bannon was less flaithiúlach with his cards but the character of the game remained unaltered.
Lennon began the half with a long-range point and, fittingly, the game ended with a Freeman score after a quick free had caught the defence napping.
Dublin chased scores with a desperation that you could taste up in the stands, but a Monaghan defence (missing, it should be said, James Coyle and Colm Flanagan) dealt comfortably enough.
McEnaney was in ebullient form afterwards. Everything he has predicted for this side has come true for them so far.
"By hook or by crook," he said, "we'll be staying in Division One."
Hard not to believe him.
MONAGHAN: S Duffy; P McGuigan, V Corey (0-1), D Morgan; D Freeman (capt), K McManus, D McArdle; Eoin Lennon (0-2), B McKenna; H McElroy (0-5, three frees), P Finlay, S Gollogly (0-1); T Freeman (1-2), R Woods, K Tavey. Subs: Edmund Lennon for McManus (h-t), S McManus for K Tavey (61 mins), E Duffy for Gollogly (66 mins), C Hanratty for T Freeman (70 mins)
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; N O'Shea, B Cahill, D Henry; P Casey, C Goggins, P Andrews; C Whelan, D Bastick; D Murray, B Cullen, A Brogan (0-2); D O'Callaghan, K Bonner (0-1), T Quinn (0-4, all frees). Subs: D Lally for O'Callaghan (h-t), J Sherlock for Murray (46 mins), B Brogan for Bonner (56 mins), M Fitzpatrick for O'Shea (65 mins), S Ryan for Cullen (66 mins).
Referee: P McGovern (Galway). Replaced at half-time by J Bannon (Longford).
