Dublin manager Jim Gavin admitted that he thought his side were a little sloppy in the first half of tonight’s victory against Galway at Croke Park.
The All-Ireland champions were beaten in their first Allianz League Division 1 fixture, losing to Monaghan last weekend, and the Dubs stuttered from the start against Galway with the visitors opening up an early lead and staying ahead until the latter stages of the first half.
In fact, Dublin only took the lead for the first time in the contest with 30 minutes on the clock, however, the second half would prove a completely different affair as the home side romped to a 1-15 to 0-07 victory.
"We got a great response from the lads at half time and there was a great team energy during the game with some great defending, great blocking, great high fielding and some great scores," said Gavin, speaking to RTE Sport following the game.
"So all in all for our third week back, we’re very happy with that."
The Dublin boss said that there was no talk of revenge for the defeat to Monaghan but rather his side employed a specific game-plan for the visit of Galway.
"We prepared for this game in isolation, we were not looking for revenge. We just wanted to give some players opportunities to play in the inter-county jersey.
"And overall, I think the team did very well."
Next up for the Dubs is a trip to Kerry next Saturday night and while Gavin will be hoping his side can take that second-half performance with them on the road next weekend, he believes that Kerry have the potential to punish his side if they perform as they did in the first half tonight.
"Obviously, Kerry have a new manager of the team and looking at their team list from last week, it looks like they have freshened it up with lots of young exciting players with multiple All-Ireland medals.
"It is a team with up-and-coming stars and Kerry have ambitions for the year ahead. So we will have our work cut out for us
"In the first half tonight, we were a little bit sloppy and if we have that type of form down in Tralee, we will be punished.
"But we are looking forward to it and it is going to be a great game."
