All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Round 1
Dublin 2-19 0-13 Roscommon
Dublin will be without captain James McCarthy for another spell following a fresh injury setback which, according to boss Dessie Farrell, might have prompted a lesser player to quit.
The nine-time All-Ireland winner, 34, wasn’t part of the 26 for Saturday’s dozen-point Croke Park win over Roscommon.
The holders led by just a point at half-time, by two after 55 minutes, and didn’t cut loose until late on when they scored 2-4 without response.
It was the win most anticipated, albeit in front of a surprisingly poor crowd of around 15,000, though the bigger picture is how Dublin will cope with fresh injuries.
McCarthy isn’t the only one missing as clubmate and goalkeeper Evan Comerford, who started the league final against Derry, has suffered cruciate damage while influential defender Cian Murphy went off with an unspecified injury on Saturday.
“James picked up an injury in the Leinster final, the Louth game,” said manager Farrell of McCarthy who has started just two games this year. “He’s had a rough time of it with injuries over the season. I think a lesser man would have given up at this stage of his career but he is working hard on his rehab and recovery and we would hope to see him before the end of the qualifiers.”
The winning margin flattered Dublin because with 20 minutes to go there was just a point in it, 0-13 to 0-12. Farrell drafted in four pacy subs by the 52nd minute – Sean Bugler, Jack McCaffrey, Colm Basquel and Paddy Small – and their impact was clear.
Bugler scored a point, Basquel a goal and speedster McCaffrey set up top scorer Con O’Callaghan for Dublin’s second goal late on.
“There was probably a narrative that had developed around this game that it was going to be Dublin at a canter or whatever,” said Farrell. “We anticipated it was going to be the back end of this game when it was going to be won.”
Dublin will head to Cavan next Saturday in Round 2 while Roscommon will host Mayo. The Rossies need a win after seven losses from nine since the league started.
“If any Roscommon man can’t get up for playing Mayo in the Hyde, there is no point in me travelling down the road, is there?” said Burke. “I’m not going to have to tell our boys how to play Mayo in the Hyde, we won’t have any issues there.”
Dublin:
S Cluxton; S MacMahon, E Murchan, M Fitzsimons; B Howard, C Murphy (0-2), J Small (0-1); B Fenton (0-2), T Lahiff (0-1); R McGarry (0-2), C Costello (0-2, 2f), C Kilkenny; P Mannion (0-2), C O’Callaghan (1-4), N Scully (0-2).
Subs: S Bugler (0-1) for Mannion 45, J McCaffrey for Lahiff 48, C Basquel (1-0) for Scully 52, P Small for McGarry 52, T Clancy for Murphy 63.
Roscommon:
C Carroll; R Dolan, B Stack, D Murray; N Higgins, N Daly, E McCormack; E Smith, T O’Rourke; D Ruane, D Smith, C Lennon; D Murtagh (0-5, 2f), D Cregg (0-4, 1f), C Cox (0-4, 1f).
Subs: S Cunnane for O’Rourke 43, U Harney for D Smith 43, R Fallon for Daly 50, B O’Carroll for Ruane 55, K Doyle for Cox 70.
Ref: D O’Mahoney (Tipperary).
