Dublin defender Cian O’Sullivan paid tribute to the character of his Dublin team-mates as they fought back to claim a two-point victory over Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final.
The reigning champions were put to the pin of their collar by the Munster champions and trailed by five points at the interval after goals from Darran O’Sullivan and Paul Geaney.
Jim Gavin’s regrouped, however, and claimed 13 of the 19 second half scores to seal a two-point victory and will now face Mayo in next month’s decider.
O’Sullivan reflected on a “fantastic” game and praised the resilience shown by his team-mates in Croke Park.
“Every time we play each other it’s nip and tuck. That was a fantastic game to play in and I’d say it was a fantastic game to watch,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“We trailed by five points at half-time and had a lot of work to do. But we kept our composure and showed great resilience.
“For us it’s a massive relief to be in an All-Ireland final. Some guys really stood up, like Kevin McManamon in the second half...that’s the stuff we need, that’s pride, that’s attitude, and our attitude in the second half was fantastic."
Dublin appeared to be coasting in the first half and Diarmuid Connolly’s point put them 0-09 to 0-05 up, but the Kingdom blitzed the Dubs to hit 2-05 without reply and O’Sullivan said it was no surprise with the attacking arsenal at their disposal.
“Kerry have some of the top forwards, Cooper, Donaghy, Geaney. There are so many threats, they are good at going short, good at going long.”
The focus will quickly turn to Mayo and the Kilmacud Crokes clubman knows that while there is room for improvement, they can be happy with their display.
“We conceded two sloppy goals in the first half, we’ll look back at the tape and see what we can improve on, but happy with that result and that performance,” he said.
“To get a performance like that was fantastic.”
