While acknowledging their hunger and work-rate, Offaly boss Pat Roe felt that Dublin were no better than two years ago when he managed Wexford against them in the Leinster SFC semi-final. Just like then, Roe failed to plot the Dubs' downfall but when it was put to him whether Paul Caffrey's side have progressed since 2005, his answer was a decisive 'no'. "They are very workmanlike and what they have now is a solid look about them. But I would be worried for Dublin that they still tend to disappear from a game," the Laois man said. "I would share the concerns about Dublin's tendency to drift from games at such an alarming rate. They aren't a better side from 2005 but I would have to say they are very workmanlike. "There were times when we had a lot of possession there today and if we had been a bit more productive with it in terms of how we put it into the forwards we may have troubled them more." Roe didn't offer Dublin's controversial goal at the start of the second half as an excuse for Offaly's defeat. Instead he pointed to the opening 20 minutes when they couldn't adjust to the pace of the game. "Was it the legacy of only having played Carlow in the last 11 weeks? It looks like that, particularly in the first 20 minutes when we had difficulties with the pace. "We got a grip of it a little bit in the first half in terms of possession but we kicked seven wides from that. Dublin disappeared for 15 minutes and we scored a point." Tweet

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