Lack of killer instinct back to haunt Dublin

It seemed almost ludicrous to question the killer instinct of a side that had amassed 9-88 in four games this summer, but the suspicion that Dublin lacked a killer instinct was only confirmed at Croke Park yesterday.

Ever since their Leinster quarter-final defeat of Laois, Jim Gavin’s team had been leaving spurned goal chances littered behind them, golden nuggets under-valued at the time by the dominance they enjoyed in other sectors.

The cost of such carelessness was always going to skyrocket as the end games approached and so it proved with the inability of Bernard Brogan and Diarmuid Connolly to find the net when Dublin were dominating the first half.

James McCarthy accepted as much, the Ballymun Kickhams defender ruing their failure to “kill off” Donegal when they had their boot to the throat of the Ulster champions and the ensuing punishment meted out in the form of three goals conceded.

“They were sloppy goals as well, preventable goals,” said McCarthy. “But you live by the sword, you die by the sword. We got caught forward when we should have been back cutting out and competing for those balls. But they got the run on us.”

The result was a conclusion no-one foresaw. There may be people this morning who can claim they always believed Donegal would win, but none can say that they expected victory to come in the guise of an assured six-point margin.

Jim Gavin spoke afterwards of honesty of effort while lauding Donegal time and time again, but he opted against providing any illumination on the mechanics of the defeat, preferring instead to offer up generalities and banalities.

“We knew going into the game, both defensively and offensively, it was going to be a very demanding game and it turned out to be that game. We were fully prepared and our focus was always on Donegal and not beyond it.”

More than once he was pressed on the alarming manner in which Donegal rifled through their defensive ranks, but the manager was more successful in batting away probes than his team had been earlier.

Only a select few titbits were thrown out.

Like Ryan McHugh’s influence on proceedings.

“He had an excellent game, a fantastic player. We knew all about him coming into the game. He has played really well this year. He put his full talents out on display there and a fantastic talent. He certainly is putting his footprint on the championship.”

So, too, have Dublin and, though the sheen of invincibility was stripped away yesterday, they have the players and everything else required to be among the front runners when hostilities resume for them in 2015.

Few of their number have had to contend with that daunting 30th birthday as of yet even if the 32-year-old Alan Brogan looked like a likely contender for retirement as he lingered pitchside after the final whistle to survey the scene.

“There is no talk of that at the moment,” said Gavin. “The guys are just very disappointed with the defeat.”

In the coming weeks we will regroup.”