Jim Gavin is doing alright as Dublin manager.
He’s doing so well, in fact, that Kildare’s nine-point defeat at the hands of the capital is somewhat of a coup.
Since taking over for the start of the 2013 season, Gavin’s winning record is as follows:
- 2013: NFL, Leinster, All-Ireland
- 2014: NFL, Leinster
- 2015: O’Byrne Cup, NFL, Leinster, All-Ireland
- 2016: NFL, Leinster, All-Ireland
- 2017: O’Byrne Cup, Leinster
In this his fifth season, Jim Gavin has already notched up 14 competitive titles.
On Sunday, he clinched his fifth successive provincial gong and led Dublin to a record-breaking seventh Leinster in a row.
But their dominance has been so consuming in the east that Kildare actually joined an elite group with the manner of their loss at Croke Park in the 2017 decider. You see, Jim Gavin has won all 15 Leinster games he’s taken charge of – losing was never really a possibility but the ruthlessness and ease in which the Dubs have buried teams is scary.
Jim Gavin has won 15 Leinster games by a combined margin of 229 points
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) July 16, 2017
They’ve won their matches in the province by an average margin of over 15 points a game and, actually, only one time before Sunday were they kept to below double digits. One time.
Back in the final of 2013, Meath went down by two goals and a point as Gavin won his first Leinster but, since then, no-one has managed to keep the margin to below 10. No-one.
Not until Sunday anyway. Paddy Brophy’s late goal for Kildare – and Paul Mannion’s later disallowed goal – ensured that the Lilywhites left the capital with an utterly futile consolation prize.
They’re the first team in four years to have kept Dublin to below 10. They’re the second team ever in Leinster to keep Jim Gavin’s team to below 10. Their nine-point loss is a little rut-stopper in its own right.
Just look at the dominance Jim Gavin has enjoyed in Leinster.
2013
Dublin 1-22 Westmeath 0-9
Dublin 4-16 Kildare 1-9
Dublin 2-15 Meath 0-14
2014
Dublin 2-21 Laois 0-16
Dublin 2-25 Wexford 1-12
Dublin 3-20 Meath 1-10
2015
Dublin 4-25 Longford 0-10
Dublin 5-18 Kildare 0-14
Dublin 2-13 Westmeath 0-6
2016
Dublin 2-21 Laois 2-10
Dublin 0-21 Meath 0-11
Dublin 2-19 Westmeath 0-10
2017
Dublin 0-19 Carlow 0-7
Dublin 4-29 Westmeath 0-10
Dublin 2-23 Kildare 1-17
Kildare will rue a sloppy start that saw them leak two early goals with both Dean Rock and James McCarthy gliding through unchallenged. Had they been kept out, who knows how tight this might’ve gotten. As it was, Dublin resumed normal order.
Jim Gavin did a Jim Gavin.
It’s hard to see where this will be stopped.
