By Cian O'Connell

A remarkable match went the distance so Jim Gavin was content with the resilience Dublin showed under severe pressure at Croke Park.

Kerry contributed to an epic encounter, but Gavin hailed Dublin’s ‘mental resolve’ to secure a September 18 All Ireland Final date against Mayo.

“Dublin football teams their mental resolve is something they’ve demonstrated time and time again to me,” Gavin reflected.

“Anytime I’m with them I see that from them, particularly in a game like that when there were so many questions. They were five up, but we brought it back, they went three ahead again, but still from a Dublin football gameplan perspective they kept in control of what we wanted to do, particularly the players that came on, we are very satisfied with that.

“A lot of emotion from the crowd behind me, they are in the middle of it, but for them to be so present when they came into the pitch was very impressive. They are the guys that really saw the game home for us.”

Despite trailing by five points at the interval Gavin was pleased with Dublin’s composure. “In various games in the National League this year and in the Championship in previous seasons a lot of questions have been asked of them,” Gavin said.

“For me half-time is just a break in play, what counts is when the referee blows his final whistle. I suppose the team demonstrated great composure. At half-time there was never a sense of anything, but a great attentiveness from them.

“They knew what they wanted. They knew what happened and they stayed in control of the situation. I thought they demonstrated that from the first minute all of the way through to the end. That was the pleasing thing about it.”

Gavin acknowledged just how gripping the game was against Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s charges. “It is a fantastic, an outstanding Kerry team and Kerry management team. We have huge, huge admiration for them up in Dublin. That game it could have went either way, the bounce of a ball. As we saw in the first half a goal for us or them, the result could have been very different.

“It was a fantastic test by a team who play very similar to ourselves. They go out to play football, all skills of the game were demonstrated. The physicality we want in our game was demonstrated: great fielding, great kick passing and score taking.

“Great goals and two sets of players for amateur players putting their bodies on the line. It was a great testament to the spirit of our games. We have one of the best field sports, it was shown there.”