Gavin praises young Dubs' composure
Dublin manager Jim Gavin praised his side's composure as they dug deep to deliver the capital's second Cadbury All-Ireland Under-21 Football title in three years.
The Dubs trailed by two points with 14 minutes remaining in yesterday's final in Tullamore, but scored 1-6 without reply - including an injury-time goal from substitute Paul Mannion - to carve out a 2-12 to 0-11 win over Roscommon.
Gavin felt that his side had it in them to produce such a performance. "I know each of those guys who wore the Dublin jersey, and I knew that they were going to keep their composure and discipline, which they did," he said.
"They stuck to the game-plan and expressed themselves as footballers which is fantastic to see, particularly with such a hostile crowd and with the Roscommon team playing extremely well."
Dublin were installed as heavy favourites coming into the final, but Gavin felt his side were justified to adopt a cautious approach.
"I suspect some pundits mightn’t have looked at tapes of the Roscommon team playing," he admitted.
"We knew the challenge we were going to face. There were no surprises on our part when Roscommon pushed hard in both halves."
Gavin was happy to play his part in delivering a second All-Ireland U-21 crown in three years for Dublin - the victory marked the Metropolitans' third overall success.
But he was keen to hand all the plaudits to the players, adding: "It was a different group of players to be honest. It's a different group and there's a different dynamic in this group.
"I'm just delighted for the players and their clubs, and their families should be very proud of what these guys have achieved under difficult circumstances."
Meanwhile, Roscommon manager Nigel Dineen felt that missed opportunities cost his charges in the end.
"We probably had a couple of more chances that we should have taken and didn’t and that gave Dublin the momentum to come back into it," he said.
"They had a purple patch then for the last 15 minutes and we were completely outplayed by them.
"Their bench was very strong when they came on, they were bringing in big men one after another and that pushed them forward."
Click to stay connected with
more stories like this:
more stories like this:
