Fermanagh 0-12; Dublin 0-12: Forget about the actual scoreline:against an evolving team practically beaten out of sight and down one of their main men at Enniskillen yesterday, this was one that got away for Dublin.
It did take some time added on for Fermanagh to eventually draw level, but Dublin can hardly claim daylight robbery as they were leaving doors and windows wide open for the last 10 minutes.
It all means that after five league games Tommy Lyons' players still thread a rocky path and for their manager, the pressure still mounts. That's how it is when things disintegrate like they did yesterday.
The bare facts tell all. Dublin pulled six points clear early in the second half and looked to be coasting. Fermanagh lost a man and looked to be dead. Yet the scores still ended up level.
The visitors had sauntered through the first half, running through Fermanagh with the sort of ease that suggested things could get ugly for the home side. Dublin squandered a fair few chances but went into the break three points clear.
They started the second half looking even more superior and shot over three scores in quick succession - fine points from Coman Goggins and Declan Lally, and then one of the better frees from Tomás Quinn.
If Fermanagh had reckoned last week's 18-point defeat to Kerry was bad they must have thought this was not going to be much better.
They clawed back two points, but then suffered an apparently fatal setback when captain and industrious midfielder Shane McDermott was sent off for a second booking. With 20 minutes left to play, and trailing Dublin 0-11 to 0-7, it was hard to see a way back for Fermanagh.
In fact, Dublin went further clear when Jason Sherlock slipped over his only point on 55 minutes. Then they turned out the lights and went to sleep, not scoring again. Fermanagh saw their chance.
Stephen Maguire had been their main scoring threat all afternoon and his influence simply soared. Three of his five frees reduced the gap to two as the 70 minutes approached, but a couple of the younger Fermanagh forwards also started to hound the Dublin defence. When Mark Little produced a wondrous score to cut Dublin's lead to one all eyes turned to the watch. Time up, and only two minutes announced to be added.
Dublin had one more chance to seal it with a free from Kevin Holden, but it didn't come close. Free-taking is still a big problem.
Almost incredibly Fermanagh had two chances to draw level and missed both. That seemed to be that, but after four minutes and 21 seconds of added time Raymond Johnston darted from wing back to send the ball straight between the posts.
During those closing 10 minutes Dublin's midfield was nowhere to be seen. Forwards like Ray Cosgrove and Senan Connell drifted into anonymity. Some defenders lost the plot totally and whatever grip Shane Ryan had earlier gained on Maguire seemed to be lost. Declan Lally had been doing well but he'd been substituted - presumably on the basis that the game was already won.
In the briefest of post-match debriefings Lyons searched in vain for positives: "I think we started both halves quite well," said the Dublin manager, "kicking four or five points in the first 11 minutes both times. But then Fermanagh deserved to come back at us because we just sat back.
"We thought we had the game won, but when the players tried to get going again, they just couldn't. But it's all about attitude on the day and our attitude was poor." He interrupted the suggestion that some of his players, went to sleep: "Ah sure, everyone went to sleep."
Fermanagh can take great heart from this result. If the desire shown by manager Charlie Mulgrew on the sideline is anything to go by the team spirit mightn't be as low as believed. The way they coped with the loss of McDermott, dropping Martin McGrath from centre forward to the half-back line, showed a fair amount of confidence.
In collecting 0-8 Maguire was clearly the engine of this performance. "We all just dug deep," he said, "and it was so important we got something out of today's game. Our pride really was dented in Killarney last Sunday And that was hard to take. But we just got focused again this week knowing Dublin would be a big test, and I think we showed great determination and guts."
FERMANAGH: R Gallagher; N Bogue, H Brady, P Sherry; R Johnston (0-1), D O'Reilly, D Kelly; S McDermott, L McBarron; J Sherry, M McGrath, E Maguire (0-1); R Keenan (0-1), S Maguire (0-8, five frees), M Little (0-1). Subs: C McElroy for Kelly (45); S Goan for Sherry (56); S Doherty for Keenan (62); K Boyle for McElroy (72).
DUBLIN: B Murphy; D Henry, S Ryan, P Griffin; C Goggins (0-1), D Magee, C Moran; C Whelan, D O'Mahony; S Connell (0-2), B Cullen, D Lally (0-3); T Quinn (0-3, frees), R Cosgrove (0-2), J Sherlock (0-1).Subs: D Homan for O'Mahony (50 mins); K Golden for Lally (61).
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo)
