Brian Barry
GAA Editor @BrianGBarry
Jim Gavin says the Dublin performance 'wasn't good enough'
Last Updated: 02/09/19 7:24am
Jim Gavin noted that his Dublin team's performance levels weren't good enough to get the win on Sunday afternoon.
Reduced to 14 men late in the first half, Dublin saw a five-point lead slip through their grasp as it finished in a draw.
"The performance wasn't good enough to get the result," noted Gavin at full-time. "We have the opportunity now to rectify that.
"We dust ourselves down and prepare as best we can for another game."
One of the major talking points after the game was Jonny Cooper's sending off, and Gavin felt there were some refereeing calls that didn't got their way.
"We didn't get the rub of the green in that regard but that happens in games, some days you get those calls and some days you don't," he lamented.
"That's the way it is.
"In the second half we could have gotten one or two calls which could have gone our way, they didn't.
"David Gough is one of the top officials in the game."
Many Dublin fans were incensed after Tom O'Sullivan, who was already booked, escaped another yellow after fouling John Small in the second-half.
"Some days the calls go for you, in that instance it went against us but overall you wouldn't be looking at that as an excuse," Gavin said of the incident.
"It's just the performance from ourselves wasn't good enough, but we have an opportunity the next day to try to rectify that."
Nonetheless, he was proud of his side's character at the end, when they recovered from falling behind late on to salvage a draw:
"The guys, we know them well and they are mentally very strong, great mental reserve there - a resilient football team.
"A point down with 72 minutes on the clock, the perception might have been that the game has gone away from them. All credit to the Dublin players, they tackled and kept their disciplined and turned Kerry over, and created opportunities for themselves - could have taken one or two more. We didn't and that's the disappointing thing, so we'll have to reflect as best we can and move onto the next game."
Watch Dublin vs Kerry in the All-Ireland final replay live on Sky Sports on Saturday, September 14.
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