Jim Gavin’s Dubs ready to take flight in drive for five

And so begins the Dublin drive for five. Two months on from their worst league campaign during Jim Gavin’s six-and-a-half-year tenure, Dublin take their first step of eight towards a historic fifth consecutive All-Ireland SFC crown when they travel to O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, for a Leinster SFC quarter-final clash with Louth this Saturday.

Should this five-in-a-row bid unravel at any point in the months ahead, take it as read that it will not be in Leinster. For while the period of time to Dublin’s last championship defeat may stand at four years, eight months and 23 days, this pales in comparison to the rather staggering 3,252 days since Dublin last fell in Leinster. Since that 2010 provincial semi-final defeat to Meath, the Dubs have gone 24 games unbeaten in Leinster, bagging eight provincial titles in the process.