Kilkenny was given his marching orders on a black-card offence in the All-ireland final but the Castleknock man feels he has nothing to apologise for RYAN BYRNE/InphoJim Gavin’s first act after Dublin’s All-Ireland semi-final demolition of Tyrone was to point out how poorly his team had performed in the 2016 finals. “We played an All-Ireland final last year and didn’t perform so we’ve a lot of work to do to try to get that performance that we want in the final,” Gavin said earnestly. The Dublin manager was, of course, attempting to play down expectations before facing Mayo, an old foe, but he wasn’t lying. The curious reality for this current group of Dublin players, many of whom now have five All-Ireland medals, is that they’ve yet to perform close to their potential in a final. Kevin McManamon’s 65th-minute goal for Dublin helped to edge a one-point game in the 2011…

Source: The Times September 20, 2017 23:03 UTC