Gilroy plays down capital gains

THERE was retribution in the Killarney air yesterday, but no one in the Dublin football camp was celebrating after beating the All-Ireland champions in this NFL Division One opener.

A two-point league victory cannot erase the memories of last August’s championship meltdown, but as part of their rehabilitation this was an encouraging starting point. They travelled home last night as the first Dublin team since November 1982 to take league points from the locals in Killarney but perspective was the buzzword in the Dublin ranks afterwards.

For manager Pat Gilroy, the key is building on this display: “I don’t think the result really matters, it’s more about performances. It’s all about consistency, there’s no point playing like that today and not following it up next week. We want to see how young lads acquit themselves out there and I was very happy with how hard everyone worked for us today. But look, it’s a February league match and that’s all it is.”