Balls break kindly for Carr

Tom Carr stands outside the Dublin dressing room and calmly talks about balls. If you want his first reaction to this win you can ask about relief or talk about luck but he reckons it was simply balls.

"I'm tremendously proud of the way they all battled out there. They showed some real balls. Obviously it's a huge relief as well, to win a big game in Leinster at last.

"I mean we haven't beaten the likes of Offaly or Kildare or Meath in a while. That was one of the criticisms levelled at us over the last few years and correctly so. Today we went one step in answering that because we did beat one of the best competitors in Leinster. Who would I prefer next, Meath or Kildare? How do you choose between one or the other?"

It wasn't easy and it wasn't pretty but that hardly matters now. A Leinster final awaits them and the chance for revenge against Meath or Kildare. And most of these Dublin players have reached the point now where they'd sooner chew their leg off than lose another Leinster final.

"Sure it wasn't pretty football," agrees Dessie Farrell, "but we've played pretty football in the past and lost games. It was a tough battle and it was never going to be anything else. So it's great to grind it out and it's been a while since we've had a hard, close-fought win in the championship."

So are there bigger things to come? "Well that's debatable. At least we're going the right way about it. We're no further than we were this time last year but it's great to be back at that stage again."

Carr is also drawing out the positives: "We were leaky around the middle of the field, but our defence stood up well, especially at the end. Coman Goggins was outstanding there and Stephen Cluxton did very well also.

"And I've never hidden my admiration for Ian Robertson as a footballer and a competitor. He has the class and he went in there very hungry and very determined. He got his opportunity and by God he took it."

Farrell will be chief among those eager to put last year's nightmare to bed forever. This win puts them in the position: "We didn't want that ghost to come back and haunt us again. It's something we've spoken about at length and that complacency or lack of concentration is something we've tried to rectify or possibly eradicate from our game. I think it worked today because we knuckled down."

Yet they did make it difficult on themselves. Instead of pushing on from Robertson's goal, Farrell felt that his side struggled to get on top: "You would have thought we'd come away handy then but it wasn't to be. Offaly never say die and we were just happy to come through."

Down the corridor, Padraig Nolan is still shaking from the narrow exit of his team. There will be no excuses, just a little sad reflection.

"I'm sure we had most of the attacking in the last 20 minutes," he says, "and Dublin seemed to get their scores on the break. But the first half was very even. They then had the cushion of a goal but we battled our way back into the game. "We dominated for long periods towards the end, but we actually went for goals when we should have taken points. Maybe that was a bit of inexperience but we've young players there that will grow from this."

And at least there is the second chance to look forward to.

"Well that's a load of rubbish. We came up to win today. And we set our stall at the start of the year to try and win a Leinster title. Now it's a whole new scenario. We don't have to wait till next year now and that's a plus but I expected to win this match right up to the final whistle.

"We've six days to get ready now for our next game and that's a big task.