[ad_1]
Dessie Farrell believes Dublin’s 21-point destruction of Meath in the Leinster final on Saturday night was the team’s best performance since he replaced Jim Gavin late last year.
The 3-21-0-9 victory delivered a 10th consecutive provincial title for the Irish champions and prepares them very well to face the winners of Sunday’s decisive match in Ulster between Donegal and Cavan.
“We knew we would have to step up for a Leinster final and based on what we had seen at Meath they were coming in very confident. They had been scoring a lot of goals, they were riding a wave, so it was definitely going to focus minds for sure. I think we saw a pretty decent and focused performance tonight, which was really nice. ”
This was Dublin’s 15th senior football title for Leinster in the past 16 years and the only time they won by a greater margin was in 2008 when they had 23 points to spare at Wexford.
No one expected Meath to win here, but the pre-match hope was that they would provide a rigorous examination of Ireland’s credentials from Dublin and offer some hope to the rest of the province that the days of dominance might soon be over. . Much of that positivity was based on a ding dong league battle at Parnell Park last month when Meath was unlucky enough to succumb to a four-point loss. Farrell thought that was a sign of things to come, too. Instead, he admitted, this was much easier than expected.
“It was. Meath had put together some really good performances. We got a sample at Parnell Park a couple of weeks ago, when they were probably considered unfortunate for not getting more of that game and we were up for a big challenge here today.”
The following for Farrell is an observational roundup, as Ulster’s decisive match is played at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh and it’s pretty obvious who the Dublin manager expects to face when the Irish semi-final rocks two weekends away. .
“Cavan has shown remarkable resilience, but Donegal’s performances have been tremendously impressive and I am quite familiar with much of the talent they have there.
“Declan Bonner has done a great job. Not only have they gifted the players on the field, but there is also an impact from the bench. They have been exceptional in their previous outings so it will be interesting to see them. “-
[ad_2]