Leinster SFC Semi-final/Dublin 1-12 Offaly 0-10:It's hard to identify any redeeming feature of yesterday's Bank of Ireland Leinster football championship semi-final. Dublin proceeded to another final, but after a display they will choose to forget quickly.
Offaly never raised a gallop at any stage that might have been seen as making the match even vaguely competitive and now face the reduced circumstances of the Tommy Murphy Cup and even the Leinster Council have to puzzle over what happened to about 5,000 people in what was reckoned to be a sell-out attendance.
The Leinster champions will at least have a sense of relief that they have taken their season to within a match of recording a first three-in-row for over a decade. But, in what has become characteristic fashion, they blew hot and cold to the extent that they allowed Offaly shave four points off the deficit in the closing five minutes to put a more respectable and quite unrepresentative look on the scoreboard.
In doing enough, Dublin didn't have to do much. They replicated the first Meath match in sprinting to a five-point lead, not conceding a score until the 20th minute, but tuning out of the match so comprehensively that they managed only two points in the entire 25 minutes before half-time.
The early spark died and for too much of the half Dublin's forwards dropped back deeper and deeper, foraging for ball, but despite the as ever admirable work-rate threatened Offaly less and less. They also lacked cohesion moving forward.
Despite the effort and mobility, players often took the wrong option, ran the ball into cul de sacs and failed to spot better -positioned team-mates.
Mark Vaughan didn't manage to replicate his man-of-the-match display of a week previously and should have scored a couple more having taken up good scoring positions. Marksmanship on both sides was poor and each clocked up seven wides in a less than clinical first half.
Unlike Meath, however, Offaly lacked the punch to reel in the champions during this unproductive phase and in fact only managed two points themselves.
Karol Slattery, slipped in by Niall McNamee, had a difficult goal chance from an acute angle, but drove the ball across the square and it was cleared.
For Pat Roe's team to challenge, a few things needed to happen. It would have been helpful had they started stronger, maybe taking advantage of Dublin's hard match last week.
Instead, Dublin motored clear within 10 minutes, slotting four points from play courtesy of Tomás Quinn, Mark Vaughan, Alan Brogan and Conal Keaney.
Offaly could also have done with 100 per cent - or close to - performances from their top players, especially the forwards, but instead Niall McNamee was slow getting into the game and missed a straightforward free early on.
His twin terror from last year, Thomas Deehan, had to be replaced in the 17th minute after pulling up as if shot with what looked like a hamstring injury.
PJ Ward never got going at full forward. He didn't exactly receive a silver salver service, but was wide with two chances and didn't otherwise trouble Ross McConnell before being replaced at the end of the third quarter.
The physically imposing half forwards, Neville Coughlan, Pascal Kelleghan and Ciarán McManus, never managed to establish a platform on top of Dublin's half-back line and ended the match scoreless.
Both sides made a change to the announced line-ups.
As expected, Dublin replaced Diarmuid Connolly - whose place was already in doubt after he was allowed to line out with the under-21 hurlers last Tuesday but who apparently stood on a nail on Friday and injured himself into the bargain - but not with Jason Sherlock. Instead, Bernard Brogan started at wing forward, although Sherlock came on shortly into the second half and improved the attack.
Offaly's Ger Rafferty failed his fitness test and this allowed Conor Evans in at full back where he had a good match.
By half-time, the score was 0-6 to 0-2 and within seconds of the restart Offaly's Niall Smith trimmed the deficit by a point.
Any notion the challengers would achieve lift-off died shortly afterwards with the sort of break favourites often get. Alan Brogan twisted in from the left corner and fisted a ball across goal. Somehow corner back Joe Quinn got a slight touch ahead of the converging Vaughan on a ball that would otherwise have drifted harmlessly to the net.
That effectively ended the match and until the cosmetic late run on the scoreboard, Dublin pulled away as the match meandered the quite lengthy distance to its conclusion.
There were good performances from Dublin, but more in the back nine than up front. Shane Ryan did a pile of work as Offaly failed to match Dublin physically.
Ciarán Whelan once again jeopardised the amount of hard work and pressure he exerts on his team's behalf by dicing with disciplinary danger, once when trying to shake off attempts at delaying a free and again when joining in a disagreement that hadn't initially concerned him.
Dublin at least can work on improving for their next championship date, Offaly's won't be until next May at the earliest.
DUBLIN: 1 S Cluxton; 2 D Henry, 3 R McConnell, 4 P Griffin; 7 B Cahill, 6 B Cullen, 5 P Casey; 9 S Ryan, 8 C Whelan (0-1); 23 B Brogan, 15 T Quinn (0-1), 10 C Moran (0-1); 13 A Brogan (1-2), 14 C Keaney (0-3, one free), 11 M Vaughan (0-3, one 45, one free). Subs: 22 J Sherlock (0-1) for B Brogan (44); 25 R Cosgrove for Quinn (54); 18 C Goggins for Casey (61); 21 D Magee for Whelan (65); 28 D Lally for Moran (68 mins). Cards: R McConnell (24); C Keaney (35+); B Cullen (71).
OFFALY: 1 P Kelly; 3 J Quinn, 21 C Evans, 4 J Keane; 5 P McConway (0-1), 6 S Brady, 7 K Slattery; 8 A McNamee, 9 N Smith (0-1); 10 N Coughlan, 11 P Kellaghan, 12 C McManus; 13 T Deehan, 14 PJ Ward, 15 N McNamee (0-7, four frees). Subs: 26 S Ryan (0-1) for Deehan (17); 19 R Connor for Smith (47); 20 J Coughlan for Ward (50); 29 W Mulhall for Kellaghan (66); 27 S Sullivan for Slattery (70). Attendance: 77,623.
Referee: M Collins (Cork).
