It was never going to be plain sailing.
Kerry ended Dublin’s 36-game unbeaten streak on Sunday as they won the Division One league title in an enthralling encounter in Croke Park.
But at half-time it looked as if the reigning champions might make it five-in-a-row as they went in a point ahead. Man of the Match David Moran spoke to Colm Parkinson on The GAA Hour to disclose what went wrong in that first half.
“Our skill set was letting us down. Kerry normally pride themselves on their skill set. It was kicking easy ball into the sweeper or whatever it was. We were killing ourselves,” the midfielder said.
“We were kicking the ball into the sweeper a lot, we made a hero of Cian O’Sullivan and even Brian Fenton was back there. We kept giving them easy balls.
“We knew we needed to tighten up, whether it was execution or carry more ball.”
Yet, it wasn’t just Kerry’s skill set which was let down as Dublin were prone to making their fair share of mistakes and Moran says it is the pressure that his Kerry side put on Dublin caused this.
“We’d like to think it was a lot of the pressure we put on,” he said.
“We went out to put on as much heat on the kick outs… we know how good their inside line are. The more pressure making sure the ball going in is poor, the better it is for us.”
However, there is a sense of realism for Moran, who knows that it is in the Championship where the like of Jack Barry and other young players will make a name for himself.
“It’s April, he [Jack] and all the rest will be judged at the end of the year,” Moran warned.
“We won’t be looking back at April, we’ll be looking back at August and September.”
Listen to the full interview below from 12:10.
