Dublin boss Dessie Farrell says 2023 level ‘will not be good enough this year’

Leinster SFC semi-final: Dublin 3-22 Offaly 0-11

There was a time when these sort of beatings in the Leinster SFC raised an eyebrow.

Not any more, however, and as if to underline just how predictable this all was, the bookies slapped a 20-point handicap on Dessie Farrell’s team of thoroughbreds, precisely what they won by in the end.

The margin flattered them a little as Colm Basquel struck Dublin’s third goal in garbage time, and Dublin reeled off a late 1-5 without response, but it still amounted to another landslide provincial win.

“I’m not going to go into the pros and cons of the Leinster championship again,” said Farrell afterwards. Which was just as well because things aren’t going to change any time soon in that regard.

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Just 21,957 turned out for the double header of semi-finals and it remains to be seen what sort of crowd attends next month’s final between Dublin and Louth, a repeat of the 2023 showpiece.

What’s certain is that Louth have their work cut out, maybe not to beat whatever handicap is placed upon Dublin on May 12th, but certainly to win.

Dublin are a slick and well-oiled outfit and a sense of inevitability draped over proceedings from the moment Con O’Callaghan put Dublin 1-5 to 0-2 ahead in the 18th minute with their opening goal.

Paul Mannion played the ball across for O’Callaghan and was named man of the match, though Basquel finished as top scorer with 1-3. Niall Scully struck the other goal for Dublin and can’t have been far off Mannion for the individual honour given his high work-rate and the fact that he was involved in so much of what Dublin did right.

They led Offaly by 1-10 to 0-4 at half-time and while Declan Kelly’s Division Three outfit actually outscored Dublin by a point between the 41st and 66th minutes, the holders still managed to stretch the gap to 20 by full-time.

Not that Farell was overly excited about the performance. He said he enjoyed the “consistently across the 70 minutes” and the dozen different scorers but warned that there are much bigger challenges coming.

“I’ve seen a big improvement in the standard of the competition, in terms of what other teams are doing,” said Farrell. “I have no doubt, and we are very clear on that as a group, that what was done last year and the level we got to will not be good enough this year. The challenge is there for us to improve wherever we can.”

Leinster final day will bring Farrell into conflict with another Dublin great, new Louth manager Ger Brennan.

“You can see what he’s doing with Louth, even in the short time this season,” said Farrell of Brennan. “He’s trying to move on their performance to another level. Some of the elements that they’ve displayed to date shows us quite a nuanced sophistication about what they’re doing.”

Offaly will return to action in mid-May in the Tailteann Cup.

“It’s something we probably haven’t grasped in recent seasons, the Tailteann Cup,” said manager Kelly. “That’s something we spoke about in the dressingroom afterwards.”

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; M Fitzsimons, S MacMahon (0-1), C Murphy (0-1); T Lahiff, J Small (0-2), E Murchan; B Fenton (0-1), J McCarthy; N Scully (1-1), C Cosello (0-4, 2f), C Kilkenny (0-1); P Mannion (0-3), C O’Callaghan (1-2), C Basquel (1-3, 1f).

Subs: L O’Dell (0-2) for O’Callaghan, K McGinnis (0-1) for Costello (both 53 mins), R McGarry for Mannion, D Newcombe for Murchan (both 55), T Clancy for McCarthy (63).

OFFALY: I Duffy; L Pearson (0-1), D Dempsey, D Hogan; C Egan, P Cunningham, J Furlong; E Carroll, J McEvoy; K O’Neill, (0-3, 1m), R McNamee, J Hayes (0-1); N Poland, J Bryant, D Hyland (0-5, 2f, 1 45).

Subs: R Egan for Poland, C Flynn (0-1) for McNamee (both h-t), K McDermott for Bryant (54), C Donoghue for McEvoy (59), J O’Brien for O’Neill (66).

Referee: P Faloon (Down).