Brogan gives Dublin a reason to believe

FOOTBALL QUALIFIER ROUND THREE Dublin 0-14 Armagh 0-11: NONE OF the great jazz musicians ever took lessons

FOOTBALL QUALIFIER ROUND THREE Dublin 0-14 Armagh 0-11:NONE OF the great jazz musicians ever took lessons. They realised, from a young age, in jazz there are no mistakes. You play. You improvise. You gradually raise the tempo. And if you have what it takes, then the performance takes care of itself.

Wonder if Pat Gilroy has been listening to any Horace Silver lately. Because in many ways Dublin’s performance in Croke Park on Saturday evening had a jazz-like feel to it. They made plenty of mistakes. It didn’t matter. They went with the flow and played with their hearts more than their heads and in the end were deservedly applauded off the stage by their few but faithful supporters.

Okay, a majority of the 25,947 that showed up might count as more than a few supporters, but it was still paltry by Dublin standards (and for the double-header too, that included the Dublin hurlers).

“Well it’s not my job to get them here,” said Gilroy. “But maybe people will take a bit more encouragement from the performance we gave here.”

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He’s right about that too. Not only was this Dublin’s best football of the summer – honest, workmanlike and a lot more consistent – but it also suggested there is more to come, particularly if their forwards can spread the weight a little better, rather than leave it all to Bernard Brogan.

His 0-9 contribution speaks for itself and Brogan did plenty of work off the ball too, although only two other forwards, both substitutes, also scored. Dublin may not have got away with that had Armagh been less wasteful.

Instead, Armagh’s scoring threat gradually disintegrated. Steven McDonnell, so often their chief tormenter, missed a couple of late frees and they squandered a lot of first-half possession by spilling the ball too wide to the wings or running down dead ends.

However, Armagh did get one glorious goal chance, with eight minutes remaining, when Jamie Clarke set up an unmarked Brian Mallon. Stephen Cluxton was forced to cover it, but Mallon easily beat him – only to see his shot at goal brilliantly cleared off the line by Dublin corner back Philip McMahon.

“Had we scored that goal I’d have been fairly dure we’d have won,” said Armagh manager Paddy O’Rourke. “The initiative was with us, you have to give credit to the Dublin corner back.”

Credit indeed to McMahon, although Rory O’Carroll and Michael Fitzsimons were just as important over the 70 minutes. O’Carroll made a few key interventions on McDonnell, sometimes just punching the ball away. It wasn’t textbook defending but it was effective.

Michael Dara MacAuley also stepped up at midfield, foraging for breaking ball and hassling Armagh a lot more than they liked. Barry Cahill started at wing back, and Bryan Cullen at wing forward, in two switches from the announced team; both players had the desired effect, although Paul Flynn and Kevin McManamon, originally named, were introduced and justified that by chipping in with a point each.

The one obvious concern for Gilroy will be how to get more from his forwards. (After Brogan, goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton was the only other starting player to score!) Eoghan O’Gara looked well off the pace this time and was replaced at half-time, and Brogan was left to keep Dublin’s scoring in check for long periods.

In fact, Dublin went a long period in the first half without any score at all; over 15 minutes, which allowed Armagh build a 0-6 to 0-2 advantage. Dublin, crucially, levelled it again before the break thanks to Brogan, and a 45-metre free by Cluxton.

McManamon, Eamonn Fennell and Flynn were introduced and gradually turned the momentum in Dublin’s favour; aided by some further wastage from Armagh. They hit eight wides in the second half, while Dublin pulled three points clear on 50 minutes – when McMahon popped up for a point.

Armagh’s bench, in contrast, failed to address their task, and although Joe Feeney hit one point, he missed at least two. Still, they were level again approaching the hour mark, when McDonnell converted his third free. The last 10 minutes witnessed some frantic play from both teams, but when Armagh saw their goal chance cleared by McMahon their heads, understandably, dropped a little.

Late scores from Flynn, Brogan and Fennell made sure for Dublin, and, with that, Hill 16 was singing for the first time this summer.

Dublin are rolling again, with a little swagger back in the step and all that jazz.

DUBLIN: 1 S Cluxton (0-1, a 45); 2 M Fitzsimons, 3 R O'Carroll, 4 P McMahon (0-1); 5 K Nolan, 6 G Brennan, 17 B Cahill; 8 MD MacAuley, 9 R McConnell; 7 D Henry, 11 A Brogan, 18 B Cullen; 12 N Corkery, 13 B Brogan (0-9, four frees), 14 E O'Gara. Subs: 15 K McManamon (0-1)for O'Gara (ht), 19 E Fennell (0-1)for Corkery (45 mins), 10 P Flynn (0-1)for Henry (55 mins), 29 D Magee for McConnell (59 mins), 28 P Andrews for Cullen (64 mins). Yellow cards: MD MacAuley (40 mins), K Nolan (46 mins), A Brogan (59 mins). Red cards: None.

ARMAGH: 1 P Hearty; 2 A Mallon, 3 B Donaghy, 4 V Martin; 5 P Duffy, 6 C McKeever (0-1), 7 F Moriarty; 8 C Vernon, 9 K Toner; 10 M Mackin (0-1), 11 A Kernan (0-1, a free), 12 G Swift; 13 B Mallon (0-1), 14 S McDonnell (0-5, three frees), 15 J Clarke (0-1). Subs: 17 J Feeney (0-1)for Toner (35 mins), 19 J Lavery for Mackin (52 mins), 23 T Kernan for Vernon, 25 F Hanratty for B Mallon (both 68 mins). Yellow cards: G Swift (49 mins), J Clarke (53), V Martin (60). Red cards: None.

Referee: Joe McQuillan(Cavan).