Donegal manager Rory Gallagher insists his side will quickly shift their focus to championship after admitting Dublin were deserving winners in the league semi-final.
Dublin led 0-11 to 0-06 at the interval in Croke Park before running out comfortable 1-20 to 0-13 winners and advancing to a final date with Kerry on 24 April.
"Dublin were very worthy winners," Gallagher told RTÉ Sport. "The second half finished up a bit of a non-event once Bernard Brogan got the goal.
"At half-time, five points wasn't that bad with a strong breeze out there. We were disappointed with a couple of scores Dublin got coming up to half-time. But we were well and truly beaten and we just have to move on."
Donegal have now lost five competitive games in a row after winning their first four in the league.
"We would have liked to have won a few [more] of the games in the regulation league but we didn't," said Gallagher. "We're happy enough that we survived but it's very much now move on to the championship.
"We said all along, even when we won the first couple of games in the league, that we'd work towards championship.
"We haven't done a lot of work. We used the league this year to get a bit of game time with new players and more experienced players.
"We'll be looking forward to hard work now. Most people know the type of championship there is in Ulster and we'll work on that."
Donegal's defensive approach was criticised after they scored only seven points in the regular round defeat to Dublin last month and though Gallagher admitted they again lacked firepower on Sunday he also pointed to the quality of their opponents.
"We probably didn't create enough," he said. "We only had three scorers and we normally get scorers coming from our half-back line and the middle of the field.
"But at the same time I think we missed a number of easy chances in the second half.
"Dublin were really up for the game. They have a lot of quality players and they were very keen on getting to a league final.
"There's no doubt we were flat and performed below par, we were here a couple of weeks ago and put up a much better display.
"But to be fair to Dublin they've got an awful lot of talent and they're using it really well. You couldn't fault their attitude and the best of luck to them in the final.
"Kerry are hitting form at the right time. They're normally not as strong this early in the year. But it's hard to look past Dublin in the current form they're in."
Dublin manager Jim Gavin praised his side’s ability to pick holes in the Donegal rearguard, and underlined his confidence in the All-Ireland champions’ attacking prowess.
“Our thoughts going into this game were just trying to get a performance against a very good Donegal side," he said. "We played them two weeks ago and we know each other very well. We’re just happy to get through that game.
“Overall the spread of scores would have pleased me most in the team. Defensively it was a good team defence and the guys took their scores well.
“Donegal invite teams onto them and try to compress space and counter-attack but we’re comfortable and confident that we have players who can strike from deep and the boys did well today.
“It’s just about being the best that we can be. Sometimes that’s good enough and sometimes it isn’t. That’s the way we’ve always approached it."
Paddy Andrews was taken off after 45 minutes and Johnny Cooper exited just after the hour mark, but Gavin eased any injury fears over the pair, stressing their withdrawals were mainly down to his desire to stretch his subs’ legs.
“Paddy just got a bang to his back. He’ll be fine, and the same with Johnny Cooper. We just wanted to get time into players and those who came on did very well.
“I haven’t seen Kerry the last couple of matches, we’ve just been concentrating on ourselves, but we know the quality they have and experience and strength in depth. It’s a great game for both teams to get at the back end of April."
