'It was a crucial game in defining our season'

“THAT WILL be very good for our confidence, definitely. I won’t lie to you,” said Dublin captain David Henry. He looked confident in saying that, and there’s no doubt their hard-earned win over Armagh on Saturday has suddenly turned Dublin into slightly more formidable opposition than they appeared a few weeks back.

“But I said last week we thought we were better than we showed this year,” added Henry. “That was a genuine feeling, that we hadn’t produced what we thought we were able to produce. We are far from being the finished article. But beating a team like Armagh will strengthen that belief again.

“It was a crucial game, in defining our season. We knew we had to at least give a true workman-like performance throughout the game.

“And I think we did that. Not everything was perfect, but I think we worked more consistently than in other games this year. We just wanted to empty the tank, for as long as we could, and if you do that, eventually things will turn for you.”

Indeed, not everything was perfect, and one thing Dublin will have to address is their over-reliance on the brilliant Bernard Brogan.

“Yeah, but sure if you have a forward that good, you may as well give it too him,” said Henry, slightly tongue in cheek.

Dublin manager Pat Gilroy left no cliche unturned in his assessment of the proceedings.

“It was a tough, hard game, both teams going hammer and tongs. There wasn’t an inch being given on the field, and it was great to come out on the right side of the result.

“When it’s knock-out I think there’s a different intensity to the games. Armagh would have been one of the strongest teams we met so far this year. I suppose the lads felt their character has been questioned quite a bit over the last six weeks.

“But as a group of players, as a panel, that attitude has been phenomenal, all through the year. Anything we’ve asked they’ve done. The mood has been great, lads pushing themselves. And that keeps an atmosphere positive.”

Without Philip McMahon’s superb goal-line clearance the result may well have been different, but Gilroy was not dwelling on that.

“Maybe it was the little bit of luck on the day, but you take it, because it doesn’t always go that way. But that kind of team effort will help us, and take us a long way. We were up a standard, against Armagh. There are a lot of things we can improve.

“Sometimes we were too far back down the pitch, and we can’t afford to do that against better teams.”

Armagh manager Paddy O’Rourke was understandably muted, not saying much beyond bemoaning his team’s failure to score enough.

“We’d be very disappointed. We came here knowing if we won this we’d be in a very good place, among the main contenders. I believe we could have won. There really wasn’t much in it. But we made a few mistakes too many.

“Early in the game we were in control. Then they got four points coming up to half-time, when we had a lot of difficulty with Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs. But in the second half, when the game was close, we weren’t able to get the scores.”