O'Byrne Cup/Dublin 2-15 UCD 2-7: Next Monday night RTÉ screen a documentary about how Pillar Caffrey guided Dublin to the Leinster title in his first year in charge.
For the public it will close a chapter but the players have long since moved on and while most are still furrowing away behind closed doors, or playing for DCU, last night several loyal souls witnessed the first murmurings of 2006.
It took extra-time but Dublin eventually pulled away from a wasteful UCD outfit at O'Toole Park to secure a place in the next round of the O'Byrne Cup against Wexford this Sunday.
With so many absentees, this was an opportunity for Caffrey to blood some of the talent not involved in the under-21 squad or Kilmacud Crokes set-up.
After a competent enough opening quarter, which saw Dublin race into a 0-6 to 0-2 lead thanks to some decent scores from Daibheach Dineen and David O'Callaghan, UCD knocked them off their stride with quick goals from Craig Rogers and Pat Duggan.
Rogers is one of Laois football's rising talent but this game will be one to forget as his wides ultimately led to UCD's interests in the competition ending.
Kevin Bonner gave Caffrey's inexperienced charges some renewed confidence going into the break with a scrappy goal from an Alan Brogan ball to leave it 1-7 to 2-3 at the turn.
Rogers kicked two more points after the break but O'Callaghan replied to level up the scores at 1-9 to 2-6 after 55 minutes.
That's how it stayed for the final 15 minutes despite a number of missed opportunities on both sides. In extra-time Brogan came to life with some excellent running and a clever point but Shane Lennon pulled it level once more.
Eventually Dublin pulled clear with the promising Donnacha Reilly kicking two consecutive scores before O'Callaghan, Derek Murray and Mossie Quinn all breaking the students' resolve.
Quinn finished with a tidy 1-1: when pulled down by UCD goalkeeper Stephen Gallagher late on he dusted himself off before slotting the penalty in typical style.
DUBLIN: P Copeland; N O'Shea, S Brehony, D McCann; D Henry, B Cahill, D Reilly (0-2); D Bastick, E Fennell (0-1); D Dineen (0-3), T Quinn (1-1, free and pen), D Byrne; D O'Callaghan (0-4, one free), K Bonner (1-1), A Brogan (0-2). Subs: M Fitzpatrick for N O'Shea (26 mins), G Lewis for D McCann (47 mins), D Murray (0-1) for E Fennell (53 mins), S Smith for D Byrne (55 mins), G Norton for S Brehony (76 mins), C Prenderville for D Dineen (84 mins).
UCD: S Gallagher; D Geraghty, P Navin, J McCarthy; A Johnson, D McGlade, M Duffy; K Doherty, J Sherry; B Sheehan (0-1), M Ward (0-1), N Lydon; P Duggan (1-0), C Rogers (1-3, two frees), S Lennon (0-2, one free). Subs: P Ogle for A Johnson (25 mins), B Teehan for D McGlade (54 mins), B Mulligan for K Doherty (62 mins), P Earls for P Duggan (64 mins), B Quill for N Lydon (73 mins).
Referee: P Finnegan (Louth).
