Carr weary after another bad crash

Some 45 minutes after suffering this nauseating defeat, Tom Carr is still sitting in the Dublin dressing-room. His players have all left, and his words have been few. The better team lost, for sure, but the habit is now chronic.

Everyone at Parnell Park on Saturday afternoon had been treated to the same sense of deja vu. For so much of the first half, Dublin's football is slick and decisive. Their opponents, in this case Roscommon, are looking for the side exit. Then comes the sort of collapse now trademarked by this Dublin team.

When Carr finally has the heart to talk, his voice is tuned to the failure. "I just don't know how we lost it. We didn't compete, we didn't contest, we didn't do what we were doing in the first half. And we didn't have the discipline and we didn't have the concentration. So players have to ask themselves questions about their commitment and their character."

So no hiding the frustration, not least of all because Dublin had been a class apart for the opening half-hour. Their 0-7 to 0-4 lead at the break should have been at least twice that.

Then comes a turbulent second half. Roscommon draw level, but also lose Frankie Dolan after his sparring with Martin Cahill. Within the next quarter-hour Dublin lose Ciaran Whelan after a late tackle and Jason Sherlock for a boot on Clifford McDonald. The latter offence is likely to bring about a long-term suspension. Then Nigel Dineen is allowed steal the game with his two final points.

Could it be that Dublin got complacent after the first half? "Look, if any team have got lessons about complacency over the past three years, then it's us," says Carr. "Of course, we told ourselves not to get complacent, but that obviously wasn't the case on the pitch. Once you take your foot off the pedal like that, then it all comes down around you.

"And I'm not making any excuses about who was sent-off. If there's lack of discipline there, then players deserve to go. But I wouldn't put that as the reason why Dublin lost. We didn't fight as hard as Roscommon, and we obviously didn't want it bad enough. Maybe we don't hurt enough from the defeats we've had over the last two or three years and that is the most worrying aspect of the character of this team."

Carr then throws up the starkest comment of all: "I can't get anything more through to these players than I already have. It's a case of the players now realising where they actually are in the football world. And we're not looking for individuals any more. We're looking for team performances, and we're not getting them."

In contrast, a team performance is exactly what pleased Roscommon manager John Tobin. "They all showed great heart and great commitment. And we were also down six or seven of our regular team. But we decided at half-time that we would just run the ball at them and that put them on the back foot. But it became so emotionally charged as well after that."

ROSCOMMON: S Curran; D Galvin, R Owens, J Whyte; I Daly, F Grehan (0-1), C McDonald; D Connellan, F O'Donnell (0-1); L Dowd, J Hanley, G Cox (0-1); N Dineen (0-6, three frees), S Lohan (0-1, a free), J Neary. Subs: F Dolan (0-2) for Dowd (29 mins), B Burke for Owens (33 mins), A Nolan for Neary (48 mins), G Lohan for Cox (69 mins).

DUBLIN: D Byrne; M Cahill, P Christie, P Andrews; S Ryan, J Magee, C Goggins; C Whelan, D Homan; S Connell, C Moran (0-1), E Sheehy (0-1); D Farrell (0-4, three frees), V Murphy (0-2, one free), J Sherlock. Subs: I Robertson (0-1, free) for Murphy (50 mins); W McCarthy (0-1, free) for Moran (58 mins); N O'Donoghue for Connell (70 minutes).

Referee: G Lynch (Fermanagh).