Brian Barry
GAA Editor @BrianGBarry
Dublin's James McCarthy an injury doubt ahead of Super 8s
Last Updated: 24/06/19 6:22am
Dublin's James McCarthy has emerged as an injury doubt ahead of the Super 8s after being forced off in the Leinster final win over Meath.
McCarthy had ice over his right knee after full-time - and he could be in a race against time to be fit for the Super 8s - with the Dubs opening their All-Ireland quarter-final group stage at home to the winner of Cork's fourth-round qualifier.
"We'll have a look over the next 48 hours," Dublin manager Jim Gavin said at full-time. "The medical protocols will kick into place. We'll reassess early next week."
Otherwise, it was a satisfying day at the office for the Dubs boss.
"It's a Leinster final and we're just delighted to get the win," he continued. "The aim was to get a performance and hopefully that would bring us the result.
"We looked at Meath coming into the game and we were very impressed. They had an outstanding league, they're a Division One side now. They played here (in Croke Park) a couple of weeks back against Donegal - that was a very impressive performance by them.
"It was nip and tuck in the first half. We were probably a bit more clinical than they were. 15 odd shots in the second half and we got a high percentage of them, maybe 13.
"We're just happy we have our hands on the Delaney trophy."
Meanwhile, opposite number Andy McEntee said in no uncertain terms that his side must improve.
"Look I think everybody is hugely disappointed, there was huge gap in the scoreline," he lamented.
"We needed to be a lot better than we were, we needed to be a lot more clinical in front of goals if we were going to give ourselves any sort of a chance of competing and that's probably the department that let us down most today.
"We needed to be able to put Dublin under pressure and its fair to say we didn't really manage that at any stage of the game. We had more shots at goal in the first half than they had, we had 11 they had nine. But we had one score on the board at the end of 35 or 36 minutes of play and that says a lot really."
McEntee will be eager for his side to bounce back in the qualifiers and reach the Super 8s.
"It'll be interesting to see how fellas react," he added. "We were one game away from the Super 8s last week, we're one game away from it this week. Ultimately not a whole pile has changed. It will be a fair test of resolve and a fair test of character to come back from a defeat like that."
Sky Sports' live GAA coverage continues on June 29, with a crucial double header in the football qualifiers.
You can also stay up to date with all the action by following us @SkySportsGAA and get all the latest news, previews and interviews www.skysports.com/gaa.
