Kildare manager Jack O'Connor says Dublin will have to improve if they are to retain the All-Ireland title

Kildare manager Jack O'Connor congratulates his opposite number Dessie Farrell after the Leinster final

Jack O'Connor knows it was one that got away.

His Kildare charges met an under-par Dublin side, and had an opportunity to become the first team to defeat the Sky Blues in Leinster since 2010.

But ultimately they lacked a ruthless streak in front of goal. The Lilywhites amassed seven wides, and eight shots dropped short.

Daniel Flynn's 62nd-minute goal made it a five-point game, but it was too late for Kildare to mount a comeback.

"[Dublin] keep the ball very well and they frustrate you by the amount of time they keep the ball," O'Connor said.

"I think they'll probably have to improve a bit if they're going to go the distance but who's to say that improvement isn't in them? They might be just timing their run and there's only one day you need to peak, I suppose, and you know when that is."

• Unconvincing Dubs defeat Kildare in Leinster final

He also felt some of the pre-match coverage was disrespectful to his side.

"I thought some of the commentary during the week was a bit over the top about people talking about getting trimmings and getting hammerings and four and five goals and all that," he said.

"Maybe those people don't realise that those Kildare players are putting the same effort into it as every other county. We're all putting a lot of time into it so that was never going to happen. From a Kildare point of view, we set up pretty well, we had a game plan that lads stuck to by and large.

"A little bit of composure on the finishing and that would have been very interesting after the last water break."

A little bit of composure on the finishing and that would have been very interesting after the last water break.

O'Connor laments Kildare's missed chances

Although it was Dublin's day, the three-time All-Ireland winning manager feels they are moving in the right direction.

"Eight points is still a fair gap now," he reflected. "You'd like to think that Dublin can't go on forever and maybe in the next couple of years that Kildare will continue to close that gap because Kildare is a big county, 220-odd thousand people.

"We need to be competing at the top table, we need to be playing big games here [in Croke Park].

"That's the message I got two years ago, to freshen the panel, make Kildare competitive again and we can only do that by getting back to Division 1 playing games against top-class opposition, knowing where the level and the standard is and let's see where that goes after this."

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Farrell not concerned by Dublin form

Coming into 2021, Dublin had won all but one of their Leinster Championship games since 2013 by double-digit margins.

This year, they retained the Delaney Cup with eight, six and eight-point victories over Wexford, Meath and Kildare respectively.

With Kerry installed as bookmakers' favourites to win the Sam Maguire, question-marks surround Dublin.

"I don't necessarily see it as a concern," Farrell said of Dublin's smaller winning margins.

"We just have to take every game on its own merits and you can't look back and compare to what has gone on, you have to look forward and understand and interpret the challenge that lies ahead, and get yourself right for that.

"Ultimately it is about winning games and being as competitive as you can to win games and that is what we are going out to do."

Dessie Farrell's side have struggled to hit the heights of recent years so far this season

The narrative around the potential demise of Dublin is not entering the groups' psyche.

"It doesn't to be honest because I think that does a disservice to the group, to the players who are there," he said.

"Obviously there has been a period of transition, fellows have retired so it is a different look to the team to two years ago in the panel at least and that is just the nature of sport. The challenge for us is to continue to move forward and regenerate and that is what we tried to do."

Next up for the Dubs is another showdown with Mayo, the teams' 10th championship meeting since 2012.

"Mayo will probably be disappointed with their own first-half performance [against Galway] and they looked exceptionally good in the second half," Farrell said.

"No more than ourselves against Meath I'm sure they'll be trying to bring consistency to their performance as well against Dublin. It's going to be a great tussle. There's been very little to separate the teams over the years and we're looking forward to it."