Satisfied Gavin moving on

Measured is Jim Gavin’s middle name so when he uses words like “satisfied” and “pleasing” and agrees yesterday’s final win was their best display of the season it’s fair to say he’s happy.

The 17 wides, 12 in the second-half, were a slight drawback but he wore the look of a content manager.

“I am very satisfied to win that game, being a national final it is good to win. There were some good passages of play, which is pleasing, and I think we took our opportunities in the first quarter and they probably didn’t.

“We got a bit of momentum and they found it hard to come back from.”

For him and captain Stephen Cluxton, it was all about the performance. The sense of achievement in guiding Dublin to their first successful defence of a league title is to be appreciated further down the line.

“We’ll all look back on that whenever our particular careers are finished. For us, this was another game to be won and at the end, it was a National League final with a trophy to be won. And that’s satisfying.

“But now that that’s over, we move on and we’ve moved on already to the championship which starts in six weeks time. That preparation has started.”

The players might make comparisons, but their 2013 success hasn’t been uttered in an official capacity in the Dublin camp.

Gavin insisted: “We’ve never referenced last year in any of our sessions or games. We take every game on its merits.

“We try new things. We can’t remain static, we’re trying to grow as a team. The most pleasing thing for myself and the management team is that the players are driving this on. ”

Gavin said Paddy Andrews looked to be taken off after feeling nauseous, while Kevin Nolan also appeared to pick up a slight injury.