Dubs in 7 heaven

Jim hails Blues hero Bernard and new kid on block Con but he’s already thinking about next challenge You have to hand it to Eoin..but it’s likely he won’t be back for qualifier

JIM GAVIN dished out plaudits to new boy Con O’callaghan and old master Bernard Brogan – but said Dublin must learn from their mistakes in yesterday’s Leinster decider. Dean Rock’s black card 23 minutes in seemed a major blow but Brogan came in and ripped it up with a throw-back performance as he prised five points from play as Kildare were put to the sword. Brogan has made no secret of his desire to get back in the starting line-up. “The way we look at it is, whatever part a player is asked to play, whether that’s finishing a game or starting the game, to me and my management team and to the players themselves it’s pretty irrelevant,” said Gavin. “They do understand that every player wants to get gametime. That’s why they train so hard, to be on the pitch representing the jersey. “There are five players there today who didn’t get game-time and they’ll be disappointed as well. I know full well that when we go back next week that they’ll be pushing hard just to get game time and push this squad on. “But from Bernard’s perspective, yeah he did very well today. That’s what we’re seeing in training. He played his part very well.” O’callaghan (right) represents the new generation of Dublin footballer and, after making an appearance off the bench in last year’s All-ireland final, he’s fast becoming a key man in their forward line. “Con has been fortunate to be surrounded by some gr e a t coaches and great family as well,” Gavin said. “Within Dublin GAA he’s been developed by the development squads and by Under 18 and Under 21 coaches and managers, so that’s been a big influence on him. “He played his part. That’s probably what we see in training too.” This was only the second time in the golden Gavin era that the Dubs have failed to win a game in Leinster by 10 points or more, the other being the 2013 provincial final against Meath. Nevertheless Gavin will go over this encounter with a fine tooth-comb as he knows tougher challenges are coming, and because his side conceded 1-17 here. “Any time you concede that much, not that it’s a concern, but it’s something we’ll have to look at,” he said. “But to balance that is what we scored at the other end as well. We’ll set ourselves up depending on whatever way the opposition set themselves up. Some teams we’ll play won’t be as expansive and expressive as Kildare. “We’ll need to adjust our tactics and it’s a great challenge for us if they do that and you get a low-scoring game at both ends. “All in all it was a good, traditional game of football.” The Blues manager reckons if this game was a week later then Johnny Cooper, Paul Flynn and Michael Darragh Macauley could have played some part. And making history with the seven in a row? “Probably for Pat Gilroy, who came before me, and his group of players that are no longer with us, they’ll take some satisfaction today,” Gavin said. “But for the current team it’s about being present in 2017 and provincial titles mean a lot to us. We’ll certainly celebrate it tonight with our family and friends, that’s for sure. And then we’ll move on to the next challenge ahead.”

KILDARE skipper Eoin Doyle is facing a race against time for the Lilywhites’ fourth round qualifier in just under two weeks.

Doyle managed to stay in the action until the 52nd minute of yesterday’s Leinster final defeat to Dublin despite suffering a broken thumb in training last week. The influential Naas man will go under the knife this morning as Cian O’neill’s men learn their qualifier fate – they will face either Monaghan or Armagh. “It’s a measure of the man,” said O’neill (below). “There was no way he wasn’t going to be playing today. “Eoin broke his thumb last week and he just felt he could get through – we felt he could get through along with him and he played as much as he could and put in a real stellar performance, considering. “There were obviously some parts of his game that he couldn’t execute but that was far superseded by the brilliant things he did in marshalling that defence for large periods. “It’s most likely he won’t be available in two weeks time but we’ll wait and see.” As O’neill pointed out, the last five years have seen the beaten Leinster finalists bow out in the next round. And the Kildare supremo admits he has a job on his hands to lift his players after this nine point loss to the Dubs. “It will be tough,” said the Newbridge man. “We didn’t come here to play a defensive game and to not give it a go, and we were very certain of that once we won the semi-final. “We all agreed – players, management and back room alike – that we were really going to go after this. “So we invested a lot of time, effort and sacrifice into it – there will be a lot of hurt in the dressing room, for sure. “They they need some time, some space to let some steam because God, they deserve it and they have earned it. “We’ll get back to work this week and really give it a good go. It will be a mighty test. “Somebody said to me that the last five Leinster losers have gone out in the next round and that’s just tough after a defeat, but sometimes it can be the scars of a horrific defeat by Dublin. “I don’t think we’ll have that scar – but we’ll definitely have that scar of disappointment. “We’ll see how we can build ourselves up again.”