Dublin 1-19 Louth 1-9 Having announced last year he reckoned his side to be three players short of completion, Tommy Lyons granted three championship debuts in Croke Park yesterday. All played well, but what might be of more significance in the long term were the showings of various subs introduced in the course of a curiously flat game.
Croke Park Match statistics
It will be of little interest to Louth to learn that seven points of the winning total were contributed by Dublin subs. Among these were further championship debutants and players whom we can expect to see much more of.
Mossy Quinn scored three points and strung together a series of fine passes. Tom Mulligan popped a 45 into the Hill end with astonishing calm and David O'Callaghan gave a little hint of why he'll be at the centre of a tug of love between Dublin's hurling and football managers for the next few years.
Afterwards, Tommy Lyons was inclined to the view that he would have been just as happy had Dublin scraped through by a point. Some press flannelling perhaps from the progenitor of arse-boxing.
Dublin played in patches, but the manner in which they snuffed out Louth's best players and at the same time created enough scoring chances to take 20 scores and hit 15 wides suggested last summer's bandwagon may be rolling again.
After an indifferent league, this was the game Dublin needed.
For Louth, the disappointment is deep and possibly terminal. They have six days to recover and Paddy Carr will have his work cut out. They lost the talismanic Séamus O'Hanlon for a second yellow card midway through the second half and after that became deeply lost. Not that they weren't astray before that. They got to the half-time break without scoring from play and even in those moments when they created something worthwhile, luck or a piece of woodwork denied them.
Louth will reflect that perhaps they got sucked in a little by the hype. Carr said afterwards they came to Croke Park genuinely believing they would be in the shake up. In the end, they froze.
Dublin contributed to that chill, it should be said, with the excellence of their full-back line. Paddy Christie was as excellent as Paddy Christie can be and outside him his young corner backs both performed excellently. Paul Griffin, in particular, is a key find for Dublin.
In front of the full-back line the outer defence wasn't too shabby either. Louth found it very difficult to pick up any loose ball in the middle third of the field and ended up withdrawing both wing forwards as they cast about for regular supply to the inside line.
The game started, however, with a notable contribution from another Dublin tyro. Brian Cullen from Skerries Harps calmly sent a 45 over the bar to open the scoring. Minutes later, last year's bright young thing Alan Brogan got on to the end of a hand-pass from Ray Cosgrove and flicked it to the net.
Momentum and a challenge sent him careering into the woodwork and Brogan was withdrawn soon after, but the damage to Louth's high hopes had been done.
That damage was compounded soon after when Louth laid a highway through the Dublin defence and Nicky McDonnell was left with the duty of finishing the work.
His low shot clipped the Dublin post and rolled slowly across the Dublin goalmouth, begging for somebody to arrive klaxons blaring to toe it in. Just eight minutes gone and the pattern of the game was set.
On 17 minutes, Mossy Quinn was introduced to the action and his impact was immediate. A good ball win and a fisted wide marked his first contribution, but he clipped two fine points before the half hour was in sight and his pace generally kept Louth worried. After the break he had another point but the glory was his distribution. A series of perceptive passes placed him in contention for a starting place in the semi-final stage.
There will be competition, of course. Jason Sherlock is recovering from a hamstring. Tom Mulligan looked big and impressive when he was sprung yesterday while O'Callaghan's two quick points represent fine use of a window of opportunity which lasted just over 15 minutes.
Dublin had led by seven points at half-time and such was the weary, leg-heavy nature of the game it never looked as if they would be caught.
Louth had their second and final decent chance of the game three minutes into the second half when the ball was skittled across the Dublin goal and popped up off Stephen Cluxton's feet.
Griffin's ready hands were there to seize it, however, and as the ball headed yonder so did Louth's hopes.
Séamus O'Hanlon sending off in the 48th minute further suffocated the game. More vexing for O'Hanlon than the damage done to his sides slender chances will be the crassly stupid nature of the offence. A player of his wisdom and years shouldn't get caught red handed while indulging in a little extra curricular niggling.
The game finished in a cavalcade of scoring for the winning side and from the stand you could almost hear Louth stomachs heaving with nausea as Dublin scored six points without replay in the last eight minutes. That sequence included a couple of wides and a Quinn shot of the post.
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; B Cahill, P Christie, P Griffin; D Henry (0-1), J Magee, C Moran; C Whelan (0-3), D Magee (0-1); B Cullen (0-3, 2fs), S Ryan, S Connell (0-1); A Brogan (1-0), R Cosgrove (0-3, 1f), J McNally. Subs: T Quinn (0-3) for Brogan (17 mins); T Mulligan (0-1, f) for Ryan (42); L Óg Ó hEineacháin for Connell (51); D O' Callaghan (0-2) for McNally (52); C Goggins (0-1) for Moran (62).
LOUTH: S Reynolds; A Page, A Hoey, D Brennan; S Gerard, P McGinnity, J Neary; K Reilly, S O'Hanlon; B Clarke, M Farrelly (0-2), N McDonnell; JP Rooney (0-5, 3fs), M Stanfield (0-1, f), O McDonnell (0-1). Subs: D Reilly for Neary (half-time); C Quinn for Stanfield (54); P Keenan for N McDonnell, C Grimes for B Clarke (both 64); J Clerkin for D Reilly (67).
Referee: P McEnaney (Monaghan).
