‘Stepping stone’ for Dubs whose season ‘only begins now’

For Dublin footballers, Leinster medals offer a strange kind of glory.

It’s not that they are dismissed, it’s just that they aren’t exactly cherished either. Not when there are other, more glittering prizes, to be secured.

Paul Flynn claimed his fifth provincial award yesterday. Of them all, 2009 stands out. Down to 14 men against Kildare for most of the game, they somehow managed to fashion a three-point win against a rival of note and one attempting to generate a head of steam to match their own.