Dublin 1-9 Cavan 0-7A BLEAK and meaningful drama filled with seasonal portents. That's what we thought to ourselves. Only pretend. That's what they said down at the dressingrooms, where we could get the smell of the greasepaint and the damp scent of the crowd.
Really! Why do we bother? We drove to Cavan through the tilting rain and shivered as we watched the Dubs slowly asphyxiate the hardy natives in Saturday night's, lights, camera, action special feature at Breffni Park and nobody seemed disappointed or downcast.
In the aftermath all participants reported themselves happy. Paul Caffrey asked the media if they had any more questions at all, at all, at all. Donal Keoghan said he had seen a happy graph of improvement. If it wasn't for good news this morning we wouldn't have any news at all.
Dublin having started badly and having been tortured yet again by a lively inside forward (Seanie Johnston boldly pillaging where Brian Kavanagh and Dessie Dolan had pillaged before) steadied themselves and powered away at the end. The totemic Ciarán Whelan made a reappearance and generally they played like a grown-up team.
Cavan, with big men still coming back from the infirmary, produced a performance far better than the one they delivered the last day against Monaghan. They had a new midfield pairing and the promising Ronan Flanagan at centre back. The new, improved version didn't yield a win but it was sufficient to keep Cavan walking on with hope in their hearts.
Latecomers on Saturday were greeted by a scoreboard showing Cavan leading by 0-4 to 0-1 early on as Seanie Johnston not only drew fouls but popped the frees over the bar like a man playing with his son in the back garden on a sunny afternoon. Dublin were back to the drawing board.
If Dublin have learned anything about themselves in this league it is that they have problems in the full-back line that need tending to.
Paul Griffin's departure left them shorthanded in the corners and while Ross McConnell, a natural midfielder, has gamely learned the ropes of full-back play to the point of attaining reasonable proficiency, you'd worry about him on those torrid Sunday afternoons in the second half of August or September. It looks like McConnell has the number three jersey for another year.
And Bryan Cullen is another unlikely cause for worry. Since Dublin discovered (shortly after Mayo did in 05) that as a half back Cullen doesn't like people running at him there has been a debate over where best to play him. This season it looks as if Dublin have decided on a wing-forward berth, but for a player of his abilities Cullen is either struggling or in a general trough. On Saturday he was anonymous again and that he wasn't taken off was a sign of management's trust that he will work through the malaise.
But on a bad evening, with a dirty swirling breeze, Dublin coped well enough. Jason Sherlock's use of the ball was characteristically cerebral. Mark Vaughan had one of those evenings when he suggests he could become a legend of the game and in the first half Brendan McManamon, the bulky tyro from St Jude's, did enough to keep us interested in his fate.
The sides went in level at the break but a little shudder went down the blue spines of the travelling legions when Johnston came out for the second half, produced a magnificent jinking run and drove the ball over the Dublin bar for his fifth score and his first from play.
Dublin though have sufficient knowledge of themselves at this stage to see where most of the pitfalls are. They picked a way to freedom. A textbook early ball by Alan Brogan (whose passing might be encouraged more) set up Vaughan for a chance which was saved. They introduced Conal Keaney and gradually his bulk and aggression discomfited Cavan.
Cavan had shuffled things a little with Dermot McCabe and Mark McKeever, two Gowna men, starting in midfield while DCU's Flanagan went to centre back for the injured John McCutcheon.
There were times they looked equipped to make serious trouble for Dublin and if their quick transfer game had resulted in better finishing more often they might have sustained the suspense created early on.
Still, when Donal Keoghan spoke afterwards about being confident that if his side continued their rate of improvement they would stay up in the division he had reason for his optimism. Although eventually overpowered, Cavan were feisty till the end.
With eight minutes left good work by the Oliver Plunketts trio of Sherlock, Alan Brogan and Bernard Brogan led to the latter tapping home a goal which gave the Dubs a four-point lead. Cavan worked the ball right to the other end, where Dermot McCabe forced an agile save from Cluxton which determined how the rest of the game went.
"I saw little things out there tonight which were signs of maturity," said Caffrey afterwards.
Perhaps more than a messiah or three new players, that is what Dublin require most.
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; D Henry, R McConnell, S O'Shaughnessy; P McMahon, P Casey, C Moran; E Fennell, S Ryan; B Cullen, A Brogan (capt), M Vaughan (0-4, one free, one 45); J Sherlock, B Brogan (1-1), B McManamon (0-2). Subs: C Keaney (0-2, one free) for McManamon (46 mins), C Whelan for Fennell (58 mins), P Flynn for A Brogan (65 mins), D O'Mahony (for Ryan 68 mins).
CAVAN: J Reilly; M Hannon. P Reilly, K Fannin; A Ford, R Flanagan, D Sheridan; D McCabe, M McKeever (capt); M Reilly, M Lyng (0-1) R Donohoe: J O'Reilly, S Brady, S Johnston (0-6, four frees). Subs: J Cunningham for O'Reilly (56 mins), N Madden for Donohue (61 mins), L Mulvey for Flanagan (66 mins).
Referee: P Fox (Westmeath).
