Gay Sheerin had a look of devilment in his eyes. "We were trying to get away quietly, but I guess we won't manage to do that now," said the Roscommon manager. Not only is such a scenario of sneaking into the championship with stealth unlikely, it's highly improbable.
Yesterday, at Hyde Park, Roscommon's evolving team demonstrated a mix of steel and flair that earned them their third successive league win.
Apart from an ability to score, Roscommon have, crucially, learned how to close up shop. Their "one-for-all, all-for-one" sort of commitment, as much as anything else, had Dublin's forwards running up cul-de-sacs in a futile attempt to find a route to goal. It wasn't especially pretty, and the game had a stop-start feel throughout with little fluency, but it was decidedly effective and puts them a step closer to securing a quarter-final place.
In contrast, Dublin must be wondering what direction they are headed. Just as many of the defensive jigsaw pieces appear to slot into place, the headaches in attack reappear. Not one Dublin attacker managed to score from play yesterday and, indeed, if it wasn't for the scoring contribution of Brian Stynes, drafted into the side just seconds before the throw-in when Ciaran Whelan was forced out with a shoulder injury, the team's plight would have been much worse.
Dublin's problems were exposed early on. Indeed, with the match only seven minutes old, Dublin had already registered four wides. Stynes found enough room to paper over the cracks with two well-taken points, the second after a fine one-two move with Jonathan McGee. Once Roscommon restricted Stynes' freedom, however, Dublin's options were reduced - and their naivety was exemplified in the 17th minute when Enda Sheehy's "goal" was disallowed for being in the square when it would have been as easy for him to stay outside for McGee's pass.
By half-time, Roscommon had edged into a 0-6 to 0-4 lead with the scoring honours spread around the attack. Undoubtedly the pick of the scores, though, was the last of the lot when Clifford McDonald and Brendan Bourke linked up to move the ball into corner-forward Frankie Dolan. He jinked one way and then the other and left his marker Martin Cahill for dead before firing over the bar. At least there was fluidity in the Roscommon team; Dublin had none. Too often, the only option for a defender or centre-fielder moving up-field was to hoof the ball anywhere towards inevitably static forwards in hope rather than with any real gameplan.
It's indicative of the problems that Dublin have in attack that only one forward, Colin Moran, finished the game where he started and two others, Ian Robertson and Whelan, were introduced in a futile salvage operation although they were obviously not fully fit.
Roscommon were rewarded for their all-out commitment to the cause with a relatively comfortable win in the end. The John Gillooly-Donal Casserly combination dominated midfield but the real damage came from a full-forward line who benefited from some intelligent outfield play and, importantly, showed an ability to finish off the work done further outfield.
Although Frankie Dolan won't want to be reminded of his 56th minute miss (when he shot wide of an open goal when it would have been easier to score), his overall contribution - and that of Stephen Lohan, before he had to retire injured, and Nigel Dineen - in the full-forward line was exemplary.
The goal arrived when the match was already won. Eddie Lohan's high ball was fumbled by Davy Byrne and substitute Fergal O'Donnell was in the right place at the right time to first time home.
But the performance, and Dublin's lack of consistency, left manager Tom Carr concerned. "From the Kerry match to that, it was like chalk and cheese and hard to explain, and it is extremely frustrating," he admitted. "But it's not the time to panic or to make wholesale changes."
Roscommon: D Thompson; D Gavin, J Whyte, R Owens; B Mannion, B Bourke, C McDonald; J Gillooly (0-1), D Casserly; S Casey, D Duggan (0-2, one free), E Lohan; N Dineen (0-3, two frees), S Lohan (0-3), F Dolan (0-1). Subs: F Grehan for Casey (47 mins); E Gavin for Whyte (50 mins); F O'Donnell (1-0) for S Lohan (55 mins); M Ryan for Mannion (64 mins).
Dublin: D Byrne; M Cahill, P Christie, D Conlon; P Curran, P Andrews, S Ryan; B Stynes (0-3), J McGee; P Croft, C Moran, J Gavin (0-1, free); M O'Keeffe, E Sheehy, D Darcy (0-2, frees). Subs: I Robertson for O'Keeffe (28 mins); C Whelan for Gavin (41 mins); J Ward for Sheehy (57 mins); M Casey for Croft (64 mins).
Referee: P Russell (Tiperrary).
