Dublin’s Flynn finds his feet – and scoring touch

IT has taken him time and by no means is he saying he has it down to a fine art, but Dublin’s Paul Flynn believes he has finally got the hang of being a wing-forward under Pat Gilroy.

Next to Alan Brogan, the Fingallians man has been the Leinster champions’ best performer on their route to the county’s 50th provincial title. He put in a fine performance in Sunday’s win over Wexford to add to accomplished displays against Laois and then Kildare, when he expertly pilfered Gary White before hitting the net.

As much as turnovers like that one is what he is known for, it is scoring that Flynn has worked on intensely this year and with 1-2 amassed over the last two games he appears to be getting into the swing of things.

“Tackles and turnovers are important around the middle sector,” he said.

“The way the game has gone, everybody is talking about tackles and getting the contact on. We’re no different to any other team. It’s about getting the tackles on and then being able to drive on and get at the end of the scores.

“That was maybe one thing I was missing last season. I was just getting the tackles in and wasn’t able to get on the end of scores and I’m trying to bring that to my game now.”

The role of half-forward has dramatically changed in the modern game but it is especially attritional in the style endorsed by Gilroy.

“It has developed over the years. It’s very up and down [the field], it’s nearly like another midfield operating on the wing. It suits my game and I’ve kind of moulded into it. I suppose it was difficult at the start to get into it but I feel I’m getting the hang of it this year.”

It’s an attritional position too, with Flynn regularly finding himself replaced before the full-time whistle because of the demands of the job.

“The last day I got taken off after 60-odd minutes. On Sunday I ended up staying on but it’s just a matter of who’s going better and who still has it in their legs.

“It could be a full-forward because he might have worked hard, it could be a guy who might go inside and get a five-minute break... you don’t know.

“I don’t think about it at all, I just go out there and work hard. If it happens, it happens. If I’m still on the field I’ll play away until I’m told.”

Flynn insists Dublin didn’t panic when Redmond Barry slipped past Stephen Cluxton to put Wexford ahead in the second half.

“I wasn’t worried because there was a lot of time left. It was a three-point game and I always knew we had the power and the know-how to dig ourselves out. We had done it before against a lot of different teams.

“They played the system very well and it was hard to break down. We didn’t break it down that much, we didn’t break it down enough.

“We had a lot of scoring opportunities, we just didn’t seem to kick them over. We won and that’s the end of it. We’ll look back on it in a couple of weeks’ time and we’ll still have the trophy.

“I think we deserved it in the end, I think we played enough good football to win it and I’m happy now to be a Leinster champion.”

Flynn believes Dublin can take more from this year’s Leinster campaign than previous provincial triumphs, when a lack of quality opposition left them somewhat undercooked going into the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

“We played Laois, Kildare and Wexford — three really good teams. We were lucky to get those three good games under our belt. It’s the All-Ireland series, there are no second chances now and we have been here before over the last couple of years and we know what has to be done.”