LEINSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL/Dublin 1-22 Louth 0-12:SINCE THE All-Ireland football championship was reimagined as a modern, television-friendly extravaganza, there is no doubt that the sight and sound of the great stadium near Dorset Street all but trembling under the weight of Dublin emotion has become the jewel in the crown of the association. It marries the best of the traditions belonging to the Kevin Heffernan era with the idea of the city team as a force that could make a sprawling capital city seem harmonious and unified.
On heavyweight days, Dublin on the rampage in this huge inner-city theatre has the power to thrill people to the bone. And beating the Dubs on the famous sward remains the true measure of worth for all quality country teams. But the problem is before the quaking matches of late summer, there must be days like this.
Dublin were businesslike and, to be frank, mannerly in the way they went about battering Louth out of the Leinster championship yesterday. Still, there was something pitiful about the closing half hour of this match.
In the bright sunshine, over 56,000 people watched Colin Moran storm through and fist a point after 52 minutes when, in a more meaningful situation, he would probably have fired low and for goal. Just a minute later, Alan Brogan was bashfully knocking over another of his fine haul of seven points from play. Louth had disappeared off the horizon, trailing by 1-18 to 0-9, out of steam and out of hope.
One feared what the last 20 minutes might have held had Dublin been in vindictive mood. Here were Louth, a team that claimed the Division Two league crown two years ago, against a team that lost the final of the same contest in April. But in the real world of championship football, Dublin and Louth looked light years apart.
It was lambs-to-the-slaughter stuff, a perfect opportunity for fathers to introduce their sons and daughters to the joys of shouting for their team in the big stadium. Unless, of course, you happened to be a father from Louth.
It is true the only goal of the match came at a wicked time for Louth. They had reacted well to the quick scoring burst that Dublin concocted after half-time when Ray Finnegan and Ronan Carroll both struck fine points from play. Trailing by three with half an hour left to play and the wind in their favour, they might have convinced themselves that they had tamed the beast. But a mess of an elementary free was thieved by the lightning-fast Brogan and a swift one-two with Jason Sherlock enabled him to finish it to an empty net. After that the end, as they say, came quick.
And Louth had been creaking before that. Even during Dublin's lacklustre first half, Paddy Andrews and Brogan drew two excellent saves from goalkeeper Stuart Reynolds and some of the shooting the Dublin players indulged in was shocking.
Going full throttle in the first 20 minutes, Louth showed their best face. The skilful Colin Judge kicked an audacious point into the Hill, Ronan Carroll made a few blinding runs forward and full back Michael Fanning started in commanding fashion.
But for all that, they trailed by 0-5 to 0-7 at half-time and were facing the rising din of the expectant city masses when they made their fatal error in the 45th minute.
Pleasing as the sight of the Dublin forwards banging over gorgeous-looking points into the iconic Hill end might be for the masses, it underlines an old problem for the men charged with answering the deafening cries for an All-Ireland title.
Perhaps too much is made of the chemistry between the Hill end and this Dublin team but there can be no question it exists. It was glaringly obvious here, with Dublin fellows racing forward to get in on the action as the Louth men became increasingly subdued and crestfallen.
This is not to criticise Dublin for merely playing the game but there must surely be a worry that they respond to the overtures of the crowd as much as the crowd responds to the more thrilling peaks of their play. And that is not a problem when they are sweeping by a more limited opposition, as was the case here. It only becomes a factor if and when Dublin must face those do-or-die moments when they need to manufacture a season-defining score when the stadium is deathly quiet.
One wonders if they would not have gotten more value out of this by going up to Louth to earn this victory. But who can argue with 56,000 ticket sales in early June? Anyway, given the rough and tumble of Dublin's league programme and their suspended stars, this was a resounding victory.
Once again, the Dubs look fiercely athletic and honed to run all afternoon - Shane Ryan made one brilliant catch late on, bounced back off two Louthmen and the turf like a rubber ball and continued to sprint on unruffled with about five minutes left in the contest. On song, they can rack up a serious score. Westmeath mentors will be studying the replays closely because there were a few Louth attacks that had the Dublin defenders running for cover.
For one brief period on 20 minutes, Dublin looked all over the place as Louth ran the ball through them with ease and landed two fine points. But there was no real sense of a June shock. Dublin were just warming up and in the end, they delivered enough to tantalise the masses. A long and emotional football summer in the city beckons.
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; D Henry, R McConnell, S O'Shaughnessy; P Casey, B Cullen, B Cahill; E Fennell, S Ryan; C Moran (0-2), J Sherlock (0-2), P Andrews (0-1); A Brogan (1-7), C Keaney (0-3 frees), T Quinn (0-6, three frees). Subs: M Vaughan (0-1) for P Andrews (52 mins), B McMenamin for J Sherlock (60 mins), K Nolan for B Cullen (67 mins), P McMahon for B Cahill (68 mins), D McGee for E Fennell (68 mins).
LOUTH: S Reynolds, D Finnegan, M Fanning, J Neary; J O'Brien, C McGuinness, R Finnegan (0-1); P Keenan (0-1), R Carroll (0-1); A Reid, M Stanfield, D Crilly (0-2, one free); C Judge (0-1), A Hoey (0-3, one free), S Lennon (0-1). Subs: A Page for J Neary (41 mins), J Murray (0-1) for D Crilly (44 mins), B White (0-1) for A Reid (52 mins), B Donnelly for M Stanfield (60 mins).
YELLOW CARDS: Dublin: S O'Shaughnessy (64 mins). Louth: J Neary (36 mins), S Reynolds (46 mins), R Carroll (56 mins), C McGuinness (61 mins). RED CARDS: None.
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo).
Attendance: 56,496.
