Jim Gavin: ‘We were probably a bit more clinical than they were’

A subdued Dublin press conference mirrored the game that preceded it. Perhaps James McCarthy’s injury had darkened Jim Gavin’s mood, but the manager was at least pleased with his team’s second-half display.

“The aim was to get a performance and, hopefully, that would bring us the result. The first-half panned out the way we thought it would. We looked at Meath, coming into the game, and we were very impressed. They had an outstanding league; they’re a Division 1 side now. They played here a couple of weeks back, against Donegal. That was a very impressive performance by them.