DUBLIN equalled the much-vaunted superstars of the 1970s by winning their third Sam Maguire of the decade on Sunday and many pundits are now tipping them to surpass what Kevin Heffernan’s side achieved.
A double this year means the Dubs also secured a hat-trick of National League titles last Sunday and beat Kerry three times in-a-row in the Championship for the first time with a 0-12 to 0-9 success in a low-scoring final that failed to live up to expectations. Midfielder Michael Darragh Macauley played the last 30 minutes and scoffed at the idea that he and his team-mates were assured places in the pantheon of Dublin greats.
“Everyone adds this stuff up when you finish playing,” he said.
“I’m sure there’ll be a few stats thrown out between ourselves and the 1970s lads over the next while, but we’ve still a long way to go and we’re nowhere near those boys.”
The next challenge for Jim Gavin’s side is to defend their title – something the county last achieved in 1977.
“Fourteen in-a-row they’ll say,” joked Macauley.
“It’s going to be a hard year next year, but hopefully we can come back and grind one out. We’ve seen how tough it is to win them back-to-back, but we’ll do our best. We’re not oul lads yet. There’s still a bit more bite in the oul dog, so hopefully we can add to the silverware.”
Opinion was divided before throw-in last Sunday because there seemed little to choose between the sides. But by the final whistle, Dublin had proved their dominance.
“Everyone knew coming into this game that it was going to be huge,” said Macauley.
“The Kerry lads are a serious outfit and have been for a decade. We had no doubts about what we were facing today [Sunday] and we managed to come through in the end. We knew that, with 10 minutes left, this game was still going to be in the mixer and, of course, it was. I think fitness showed in the lads, our lads had the hard work done and it paid off.
“It was an awful day for football. The ball was breaking everywhere and it was whoever could get on the ball, who was alert for those breaks. The ball was breaking in the full-forward line and midfield and whoever could get in and win those breaks would have a big say in who was going to be the winner.
“It was close enough, but we managed to get our noses just ahead. It was hard-fought to the end and we were just happy to win it.”
The emergence of Raheny midfielder Éamon Fenton meant Macauley and Denis Bastick shared the number nine jersey for most of the season. The Ballyboden St Enda’s clubman described 2015 as: “My most frustrating year on a Gaelic football pitch.”
He added: “But you have to take the highs with the lows and, with the injuries I had at the start of the year, I seemed to be chasing my tail a bit. I felt I got there towards the end but maybe I was just a little bit too late.
“I’d have liked to have a bigger part to play, but that’s the way it goes.”
After receiving the Sam Maguire from GAA president Aogán Ó Fearghail, Dublin skipper Stephen Cluxton said the team began training for 2015 two weeks after the surprise loss to Donegal in last season’s semi-final.
“It’s never nice, I always said that the toughest area to lose is a semi-final,” he said.
“We really felt that last year. We felt we were primed to win it last year and we were beaten by the better team in Donegal on the day.
“We had to be ready for anything this year and we had a few challenges thrown at us in the last three games – the two against Mayo particularly – and managed to overcome them. I’m proud of the lads.”
