Dublin manager Jim Gavin was pleased with his team's discipline in their comprehensive Leinster SFC semi-final win over Kildare on Sunday.
Dublin crushed the Lilywhites 5-18 to 0-14 at Croke Park to advance to a 10th provincial decider in 11 years but one of the most satisfying aspects for Gavin was his players' ability to keep their cool - despite several on-field skirmishes.
"In those exchanges, our guys held their ground, which you would expect them to do. That was satisfying," he told RTÉ Sport.
"Discipline is one of our core philosophies and everything is based around that. Players know my views on it and to that end I was satisfied that they held our discipline.
"It’s a physical contact sport and we have to ensure that we always have that and the rules don’t take that away. That’s why hurling is a great game, they haven’t lost that and it’s important Gaelic Football doesn’t lose it either."
As for former Kerry star Darragh Ó Sé's suggestion during the week that Diarmuid Connolly might be provoked into a reaction, Gavin smiled wryly, saying: “I learned a long time ago when Kerry talk about other counties, I take it with a pinch of salt.”
Analysing the game itself, the Dublin boss was delighted with his side's efforts, insisting they could have come unstuck with any less than maximum effort.
"I thought it was an all-round good performance," he said. "There was very good industry, great work-rate throughout the team, we held our discipline throughout.
"Defensively we were solid, with good structure, and to get 4-14 from play was pleasing. Overall, a good day at the office but we prepared very diligently for it over the past four weeks and we knew we had to turn up today to get a performance.
"To that end that objective has been achieved and we’re just delighted to get through to a Leinster final. It means a lot to us and we’ll go hard at it now for the next couple of weeks.
"We could have faced defeat today if we decided not to show up. It’s a matter for ourselves to prepare the best that we can, that’s all we can do. There are no guarantees. If the mindset wasn’t good today, we couldn’t have come away with the result. So we’ll keep going after that.
Gavin insisted he hadn't had any time to think ahead to Leinster final opponents Westmeath, who recorded their first ever win over Meath, but that the inevitable favourites status the Dubs will enjoy wouldn't enter the players' minds on 12 July.
“It’s not mentioned," he said. "To get a performance there’s a certain process we need to go through. You saw the end product on the park today. Behind that goes a lot of hard work by the players in the main.
"They’re very ambitious and understand that it’s all about the next game. There are no guarantees in this sport and they just have to work hard and put themselves in a position to win games."
