Division One Final: Dublin 2-18 Kerry 0-13
DUBLIN manager Jim Gavin chose the platform of his team’s fourth consecutive NFL success to launch a surprising broadside at drug testing procedures.
Gavin’s side etched their names in history at Croke Park as the first team since the Kerry side of the early 1970s to claim spring silverware four seasons in-a-row.
But two-time All-Ireland winning manager Gavin moved to play down the achievement, pointing out that the competition ranks lower than the provincial Championships and the All-Ireland series and instead turning his focus towards anti-doping procedures.
Gavin was speaking after watching the GAA’s Laochra show, a commemoration of the 1916 Rising, which followed the Division One final and he lamented the fact that four players, two from either side, were unable to enjoy the entertainment as they were taken away to provide samples for drug testers.
“We don’t want cheats in our game, that’s the first thing to say about it and obviously the main thing to mention,” said Gavin.
“But I think it could be better managed. They are amateur players. Immediately after games, in my opinion, it’s not appropriate.
“They all want to enjoy the success and then for the other team, after losing the game, I think the last thing they need is somebody coming down to have an invasive procedure take place.
"They could pick a time during the week of the game. They could pop out to us or they could do it afterwards because every team now would surely have some recovery programme going on the day after the game. So there is plenty of opportunities to get your samples where you need them.
“Today, we have four players there from the teams and Laochra was taking place outside and they were in the dungeons of the stadium, being closed off and they didn’t have access to the entertainment. It just doesn’t sit right.
“The actors, well, they are the athletes that people came to watch today and for them to be treated that way, I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
Gavin was more circumspect about the actual achievement of dominating the League for the past four seasons, going through this year’s campaign without losing or drawing a game.
Asked if the feat is in any way comparable to anything they’ve done in the Championship, Gavin shook his head.
“No, it’s not, the Championship is the Championship and the League is the League,” said Gavin.
“We look at the league as the third competition because you have the League, the provincial series and the Championship series and that’s the way Croke Park have it laid out for us.”
Dublin’s 11-point win, their biggest of the campaign, maintaining their perfect record across nine games this season, was a little flattering as they led by just three after 67 minutes.
But 2-3 without reply in the closing minutes including goals from Paul Flynn and substitute Eric Lowndes rammed home their advantage.
Kerry perhaps needed the win more than Dublin after losing last September’s All-Ireland decider to the Sky Blues. They have now lost nine of their 11 meetings since the 2009 Championship.
But Dublin always looked in control of the situation as they hit the interval with a 0-10 to 0-8 advantage and remained ahead from then on.
Kerry did get it back to a one-point game but Aidan O’Mahony’s 51st minute dismissal, for a challenge that left Jonny Cooper grounded and clutching his jaw, was pivotal.
Dublin strode four points clear late on before Flynn’s goal when he capitalised on a defensive mix-up between Brendan Kealy and Jonathan Lyne, and Lowndes added a second goal in the 74th minute.
