Dublin ladies captain Sinéad Aherne says her side cannot afford to allow Mayo to steal an early advantage on them when the teams meet in the Lidl Ladies NFL Division 1 final this Sunday.
The reigning All-Ireland champions slipped into a four-point deficit in the early stages of their semi-final clash against Galway, and were still five points adrift with just over 20 minutes remaining in the tie.
They were lucky to escape with a narrow victory when substitute Nicole Owens scored a late goal to book Dublin’s place in the decider against old rivals Mayo, and set-up a repeat of last year’s senior All-Ireland final.
Aherne concedes that Dublin haven’t "been terrifically on top of our game throughout the league" and says that they will have to rectify those mistakes when they come to Parnell Park this weekend.
"We obviously weren’t happy with the last day and I think we know we need to make a huge step up if we’re going to beat Mayo.
"Form-wise, they’re coming in on an upward curve and we have been off the boil a little bit so we’ve had a week and this week to prepare and I suppose reflect on things that didn’t go well in the Galway game and hopefully make them right.
"We made a lot of mistakes the last day. Our turnover count was a bit big and we tried to force things a little bit. Some of the games, we’ve been in tight situations and we managed to get ourselves out of it.
"We did that as the [Galway] game went on but we can’t afford to give Mayo a head start the way we did against Galway because I think they have the quality to push it throughout the game.
"I think we have to minimise our mistakes. Their forwards are strong so we need to defensively keep it very tight."
Dublin’s All-Ireland success last year against Mayo brought their search for a second All-Ireland crown to an end on the back of three consecutive defeats in Croke Park. But after spending years with the rest of the chasing pack, it seems as though Dublin have switched roles and are now the hunted instead of the hunters.
Aherne however, doesn’t quite it see it that way.
"I think for the league it's probably a different kettle of fish just trying to try out new players, bringing people in in terms of tactics and systems and that. We don't have all our players with colleges from the early part of the season so you're lacking a certain amount of consistency.
"It probably won't kick into defending a championship until later in the season. I think it's been a pretty well-traveled path for us in terms of how we approach the league. I don't think it's been too different."
A first ever Division 1 crown continues to evade Dublin but that can all change this weekend. Aherne says that striving for that silverware is an obvious target, but it’s equally important to be playing as many competitive games as possible before the Leinster championship begins.
"Some of the players coming in unfortunately have picked up a few knocks, so I'm sure that experimentation will continue for a little bit past the league. It’s been great to see players coming in, you obviously need that freshness and you need players challenging right throughout your panel.
"It's great to get another seriously competitive match to bring you into championship. It's a national title, it's obviously something that we'd like to win. It shows a measure of consistency in results and performance that can only be a bonus going into championship.
"The main thing is just trying to work on increasing our performance, our performance levels from the last day. We're going to have to be on top of our game for Mayo on Sunday."
