Dublin intensity their trump card against Donegal

Dublin 1-15 Donegal 1-10: Grace under fire wouldn’t be the aptest way to sum up this latest addition to Dublin’s unbeaten league and championship run of 26 matches. In football terms, Donegal were hardly pyromaniacs and as regards discipline Jim Gavin’s side weren’t so poised.

Yet in the face of a sucker punch goal and the loss of Diarmuid Connolly to a second yellow card with almost 30 minutes of action left, Dublin’s cool didn’t escape them.

Substitute Eoghan O’Gara also saw the line for a late incident involving Neil McGee and Brian Fenton was black carded in the dying seconds, which briefly saw them down to 12 men, and yet Dublin looked more than able to cope with their numerical disadvantage. “Intentfulness” was the new word Gavin used to describe his team’s efforts.