Jim Gavin has a reputation as something of a closed book when it comes to his media utterances, but his approach has always been more tactical and nuanced than that.

The Dublin manager can filibuster at length about the qualities of the opposition, mentioning anything up to 20 or more by name at times, and he can counter that with some replies that don’t bother stretching beyond a single syllable.

“No,” was all he offered on Saturday night when asked if his team’s early qualification for the All-Ireland semi-final stage might persuade him to dole out a few appearances for players on the fringes of things in their final group game against Roscommon on the Bank Holiday weekend.

His offerings, when quizzed on the narrow confines of Healy Park, were equally curt and unenlightening, so it’s probably no surprise that one of the more intriguing replies came when he all but turned a question on its head.

It was put to Gavin that the game had maybe been won on the back of two purple patches either side of the break, a curious statement in itself given they had outscored Tyrone by just two points in that time. He preferred to highlight work done at the back instead.

“Defensively, we looked strong as well. We knew coming into the game that they had put up big scores in the last five games and it’s a credit to the system Mickey [Harte] has.

“They are a very potent attacking unit and to limit them to what we did today was reflection of some really hard work we did on the pitch.”

It’s a point worth noting. Dublin are continually praised for the quality of their attacking game — and well they might — but it is the marriage of that thrust with a defensive dominance that has made them such a force as they close in on a fourth straight All-Ireland title.

One snapshot just past the midway point of the first-half encapsulated that.

There were 22 minutes gone when corner-forward Paul Mannion dispossessed Cathal McShane with a sensational slap tackle, just as the Tyrone man was about to shoot for goal. Moments later and full-back Philly McMahon was firing a point over with the outside of his boot.

Football doesn’t get better — or more total — than those few seconds.

Yet, you can’t help but think that there’s more in Dublin. They haven’t conceded a goal since Wicklow snaffled one in May, but they aren’t taking the breath away yet either. Even if Gavin felt this latest effort was an improvement on their defeat of Donegal.

“It was up a bit and it had to be,” he said. “Tyrone were coming into this game with a lot of momentum. You saw the scores they are putting up and it gave them great confidence coming into it. We knew it was going to be a massive challenge and again our players left everything on the pitch, as the Tyrone boys did as well, so it was a little better than last week. Will it be good enough going forward? Only time will tell.”