Stephen Cluxton saves his best efforts for deflecting all questions on kick-out strategy round the post

Come in, give nothing away and get out. At least Stephen Cluxton cracked a joke. Unfortunately it was to deflect answering a question.

But we start, as always, with Dublin's manager. Jim Gavin was happy with the result but not the performance.

Gavin was not so pleased with what was written about Meath in the build-up to yesterday's Leinster final.

"Some of the things written about Meath during the week from the media left me at a loss really to see how that was written about a team and a county with such tradition.

'Great heart'
"I thought they showed great heart going down to Aughrim to get a result against Wicklow and they fought diligently against Wexford to get a result, so we knew it was going to be hard. Other people had a different perspective on it."

It's true Meath competed admirably for about 50 minutes here but Dublin won pulling up.

A seven-point margin of victory is not close in any sporting sphere.

It raised the question about Dublin changing tactics after half-time.

“No,” Gavin replied. “The same 15 that started the first half came out in the second half. The players knew they weren’t performing but they weren’t let perform.

“Meath played very, very well and all credit needs to be given them for that and that’s not being dismissive of them.

“As I said, some of the comments about them were a bit below the belt.”

So, no tactical changes at all, or was Ciarán Kilkenny closer to goal, perhaps?

“Ciarán was playing well and he was given that role at centre forward to link up play and he continued on in the second half.

“Some gaps appeared and he exploited those.”

He certainly did. Kilkenny's three-point blitz after half-time came along with Bernard Brogan and Paul Flynn scores to put Dublin back in the ascendancy.

We move to Cluxton. It was apparent Meath did their homework on the Dublin goalkeeper's kick-outs. It meant hehad to go long and the Meath midfielders were waiting. Right?

'Lethargic'
"No, I think we were a bit lethargic ourselves and I made a few errors myself, so that was it."

Lethargic, how?

“I just felt they didn’t really want it. Maybe they were tired or the sun was taking it out of them.”

It’s always admirable stuff. They put the heat on themselves.

But did Meath not push on to your wing backs and fullback line to force a change in how you normally get the attack motoring?

“No, I would say that there just wasn’t space to kick.”

You looked to be carrying a knock when coming up for that late free?

“Just old age, that’s all. Running repairs.

“I was too tired, to be honest. It was too warm out there to be running up and down at my age. Maybe get the younger lads to do it.”

Nervous laughter.

Gavin drives a straight line to the exit. He defends the future of provincial competitions. Tips his hat to Dublin’s coaching structures.

Assures us Paddy Andrews will recover from a hip injury by next week.

Polite, efficient answers.

All that can be gathered is what we see.

No fanfare. Tall, dark, silent stuff. Dublin move on. Two trophies. Two brief Cluxton speeches. Three games to go ...