All-Ireland SFC qualifiers quotes: Tommy Lyons is buzzing about the place again. As a manager he rises and falls with the mood of his team. Yesterday Dublin floated off the field, well pleased with themselves. Their feelings were written on their manager's face. All is good in the House of Blue.

"Just the type of game we needed," said Tommy. "We were the only ones not writing them off. We watched lots of videos of Roscommon playing very good football. I've seen them three times this year. I was at the Connacht final and the first ten or 15 minutes they looked a very good team. Mayo got a goal and the whole game seemed to change dramatically. Very unusual at county level that a goal would make that change."

A goal hadn't changed Dublin's day but it had helped it along nicely and when the post-mortems were being done it was conceded by all that Sherlock's little shiv had cut deepest.

"Jason is playing very well," said Bryan Cullen. "If there's one guy on the team you want one-on-one with the goalie it's Jason."

It was the form of the Dublin forwards which will have impressed most observers. At time the Dublin defence came apart like a cheap suit but there was still enough class within the side to rescue the situation.

"We got the scores today when they threatened," said Lyons. "We set out to be in the quarter-finals and lots of teams in that draw wouldn't want us."

The game had gone for large parts as Dublin predicted it would. Their goalscoring was a awry, nothing more.

"There were times when balls weren't coming into fellas around the square. There's more goals in us. Certainly."

So it is that Dublin reach a junction. Five games played. Three left perhaps, each of increasing magnitude. Each step has been like a self-help class.

"I think," said Tommy, "everyone knows you have to improve every game.  This will bring us on. These lads aren't robots. You can't just press a button. We could score 2-4 in the first ten minites or be ten points down. You just don't know.

"Team sport is an amazing thing, so many things make it up. We're there though."

In a match of big hitting and small vendettas the referee had the difficult job of staying on top of such a bucking beast for 70 minutes.  There were no red cards through.  Just bruises.

"The fellas are black and blue," said Lyons.  "Lot of big hits out there today. Even Shane Ryan took some huge hits. We're not giving out. We're happy. We'l play anyone."

Bryan Cullen, the Dublin centre back is just a short whiole into his reign but looking every inch the natural rampaging through at ine stage yesterday for a fine score redolent of the Keith Barr era. He stands outside the TV area, happy for now.

"We kept at it, got a few scores. Our full forward line always looked dangerous. They seemed to have the beating of their men. "

He'd had a day of exposure to Croke Park and to the demands of the centre back position in the face of a large, dedicated opposition. And he'd come through.

"These are the games you want to play You want to mark the top class footballers and challenge yourself. It's amazing what one good win will do. Good to get the win under our belt. The fans are super. A small percentage after Westmeath game were on our backs but when we need them they are there."

Tom Carr emerged from the Roscommon dressingroom. Went and spoke to the gallant Dubs and disapeared inside the dressingroom again. Changed and showered he took questions.

"Yes it was disappointing. We gave a good enough performance to win, if we had taken the chances. We're disappointed we didn't convert any of them. It's a bit unfortunate. We felt we'd need a goal or two especially after the one we conceded when we got caught with two defenders running onto one man."

For Roscommon it's been the same old story for a while.

"The goal chances have gone abegging. This year we have created more opportuiniteis than any other year and have taken fewer of them. Last year certainly we created fewer and took more."

But as a manager there were reasons to be cheerful. He had taken some gambles in his selection. The flutter he took on Ger Heneghan and David Casey paid off big time.

"Ger Heneghan came up trumps. He came up here during the week to kick a few frees. He took responsibility . David Casey is a good footballer he did his job well.

"Dublin are fast and quick but they'll be worried by the number of times we got through today. We got done for overcarrying a lot of times. Very harshly sometimes. We needed to be slicker when we were bearing down."

Roscommon had started well scoring the first three points of the game and tearing into their task energetically. Dublin had weathered things. It wa smuch as either manager had expected.

"I always felt going in within two or three points at half time we'd be happy enough." said Carr We came up here to go at the game for seventy minutes. If we played in a similar fashion against Mayo who knows."

For Carr there was acknowledged strangeness in facing down his beloved Dublin in a big championship game in Croke Park.  His mind had been filled with other things though.

"If we’d had a better Connacht final it would have been stranger.  We would have been concentrating on Dublin.  As it was we had to worry about how we would play.

"It was strange walking into the changing room meeting the lads I spent three or four years with and still have the utmost of time for.  I genuinely wish them the best of luck.  It’s the county I’ll be supporting for the rest of the championship.

"They'll be good enough to put it up to anyone. If their big names play. Who could call a winner of this championship at this stage?" Not us.