Dublin manager Jim Gavin is happy to be back in another Allianz Football League Division 1 final, but he wasn’t pleased about all aspects of his team’s display in their semi-final win over Monaghan.
The Dubs have taken the league title in each of Gavin’s two seasons in charge so far and they are going for the county’s first ever three in-a-row of Division 1 titles.
They will face on Cork in the decider at Croke Park on Sunday week, the Rebels having won three in-a-row before that between 2010 and 2012.
The Boys in Blue squeezed past Monaghan 0-17 to 0-16 at GAA headquarters on Sunday afternoon and Gavin came away with a lot to think about.
“Our core skills which we apply ourselves to in our practice sessions; our hand passing, our tackling were a bit sloppy,” said the 2013 All-Ireland winning boss.
“They're the basics of our game and they let us down. Once that didn't go right for us, we turned the ball over a lot and gave Monaghan a chance to penetrate against us.
"We understand that if we remain static, if we don't grow, teams will by pass us. There's a challenge in that itself" - Jim Gavin
“We're trying to give players more game-time and build towards that end. Certainly when you look at our first couple of games in the league we have tried a lot of players, and tried to give them game time.
“We tried a few new things, some have worked, some haven't and that's part of the growth side that any team wants.
“We understand that if we remain static, if we don't grow, teams will by pass us. There's a challenge in that itself. Some of our performances haven't been up to what we'd like, as in today's performance wasn't what it should have been.
“Somehow we got the result and I won't say we're happy for it, but we're glad for an extra game.”
Dublin beat Cork in last year’s league semi-final, coming from ten points down to win by seven in the second half but the Rebels got some measure of revenge when they won the rematch in the first round of group games at Pairc Ui Rinn this February.
Gavin doesn’t think that match, or last year’s encounter, will have any influence on 26 April.
“I think both teams will have developed over the course of the league,” he explained. “It is a final and I think both teams will want to put their best foot forward in a national final and both teams will want to win the trophy.
"We were more competitive right the way through and that's what we wanted to do today" - Malachy O'Rourke
“To that end, I’d say that Cork have probably widened their base and some of their players will have gained experience in a the league campaign so I think it’s going to be a very competitive game.”
Bernard Brogan and Rory O’Carroll didn’t play despite being named in the team during the week.
Gavin said that this was due to "soft tissue injuries" and that both are expected to be fit in time for the final.
Dublin hammered Monaghan in the last round of group games in Clones last weekend so Farney County boss Malachy O’Rourke was happy that this encounter was a lot closer.
Between these games he spent four days in Portugal with his players and backroom staff getting ready for the forthcoming Ulster Championship.
He said: “Today we wanted to get to the pitch of the game earlier, we wanted to make sure they didn't get away on us.
“We were more competitive right the way through and that's what we wanted to do today. I think we did that. We're still disappointed with a lot of aspects of our play so we know we can do better. Overall the league has been fairly good for us.”
