Jim Gavin wryly admitted he ‘didn’t realise you could tackle the goalkeeper’ in Gaelic football after Dublin's victory over Fermanagh but also conceded that a similar performance will not be good enough in the semi-final.
The Dublin manager watched his side beat Fermanagh by 2-23 to 2-15 in the All-Ireland senior football quarter-final at Croke Park on Sunday but while Dublin were never in danger of losing, they conceded two goals in a patchy second half performance.
Speaking to Marty Morrissey on RTÉ News, Gavin said: "We’re delighted to be back in an All-Ireland semi-final and to that end, the objective has been achieved. I thought up to the last quarter of the game we were in control but lack of concentration, we gave Fermanagh some time and space as we knew they would."
Fermanagh’s first goal was a controversial one as Stephen Cluxton looked to have been pushed over the line by Sean Quigley.
Gavin said: “I didn’t realise you could tackle the goalkeeper in Gaelic football but there you go. Sometimes these decisions go for you and sometimes they go against and you’ve just got to roll with it. We’re just delighted to win.”
Having yet to face a serious contender for the title, Dublin move on to play either Donegal or Mayo in the All-Ireland semi-final on August 30.
Gavin knows that an improvement will needed. “We’re looking for performances in all our games and trying to get a consistent performance and if that comes you get a result. That performance wasn’t consistent over the full 70 and won’t be good enough against Donegal or Mayo.”
