Dublin boss Dessie Farrell also said that the 'jury is still out' on goalkeepers joining the attack after watching his side overturn a 12-point first half deficit.
Jack O'Connor had a wry smile as he said “10-point leads now aren’t safe anymore”. In fact, his team held an 11-point advantage at half-time having led by 12 shortly before the break after Paul Geaney had pounced on an error from Dublin goalkeeper Evan Comerford to finish to an empty net.
Their 1-12 first half tally , amassed while playing with a considerable breeze blowing into the Mitchels end of Austin Stack Park, was supplemented by three two-pointers, two of them from Sean O’Shea, meaning that in old money it was something more akin to an eight-point advantage that they held at the changeover. READ MORE:Dessie Farrell opens up on 'heart-wrenching' passing of his former Dublin manager Paddy CullenDublin slowly reeled them in in the second half, without ever really threatening a goal, though they had a few jolts of two-pointers - four in all - to dent Kerry’s lead, with sub Lorcan O’Dell kicking two on the trot late on to bring the sides level before Luke Breathnach kicked what proved to be the winner. Earlier in the evening, Derry had clawed back a nine-point half-time deficit against Galway to secure a draw, again without the need for a goal. If nothing else, the new rules are making for more madcap spectacles. “There is a lot going on,” admitted Dublin boss Dessie Farrell. “I still think people are still trying to navigate their way through it. The two-pointers are significant, particularly in a breeze if you have the ability to kick some of them. “If you have those type of players in your team that can kick two-pointers, it’s definitely an advantage. Also the ‘keeper coming up, really trying to slow the game down a little bit in the first half, conditions obviously play a factor in that. “Kerry made a couple of attempts at it in the second half as well. That’s probably one that the jury is still out on at the minute from what I’m hearing through the grapevine but yeah, everyone’s still trying to find their way through it.” It was a fine victory for Farrell’s new-look side in the end, Dublin’s first in Tralee since 1982 albeit they had scored two wins in Killarney in the intervening years, though they rode their luck in a first half in which Kerry blew four clear goal chances when playing with the considerable elements. Micheál Burns fisted an early point when a square pass to Darragh Lyne would have left an unguarded net to palm into; Joe O’Connor drove another shot wide of Comerford’s right-hand post while Geaney had an effort smothered and Lyne’s indecisiveness when straight through eventually saw him trying to fist a point, though his effort came back off the post. “We had a couple of goal chances in the first half that we didn't avail of,” said Kerry boss Jack O’Connor. “We just needed an extra bit of a cushion at half-time that would have allowed us to play out, you know, hold on to the ball and maybe wear down the clock a bit, but Dublin kept closing on us and came strong in the last 10 minutes.” With Kerry fielding nine of the side that started last year’s All-Ireland semi-final loss to Armagh compared to just five common starters for Dublin from last year’s quarter-final defeat to Galway, the win was a real fillip for Farrell and distances his side from a relegation battle with three rounds played, albeit he insisted that development trumps results this spring. “I was genuinely very happy with the second half performance even if the result went against us in the end. We’re not chasing results this year, it’s about making progress, it’s about young players developing, growing into it. “It’s about building for the future and building for a very competitive Championship so we’re encouraging lads to enjoy their football and there’s enough pressure inherent in the system at the business end of the Championship so just to go out and play - play what you see and enjoy it and let’s see where it takes us.” Kerry, who reintroduced David Clifford off the bench but to little effect in the second half, must go again for the fourth consecutive weekend next Sunday, up in Omagh, and then to Castlebar six days after that. O’Connor added: “It’s just a bit tricky for us at the moment because we’re trying to get the Crokes and the Stacks fellas, there are 11 players between those two clubs, we’re trying to get them back into the group and five or six fellas who had fairly long-term injuries back in as well. “So that’s 15 or 16 players we’re trying to drip-feed back into the group and that’s tricky because we’re having to do it on the run while we’re playing in the middle of five games.” KERRY: Shane RYAN 6; Damien BOURKE 7, Jason FOLEY 7, Tom O’SULLIVAN N/A; Graham O’SULLIVAN 7, Mike BREEN 7, Brian Ó BEAGLAOICH 7; Diarmuid O’Connor 7, Joe O’Connor 6; Paudie CLIFFORD 7, Sean O’SHEA 8, Darragh LYNE 6; Conor GEANEY 7, Paul GEANEY 7, Micheál BURNS 7. Subs: Dylan Casey for Tom O’Sullivan , Cathal Ó Beaglaoich for Lyne , Armin Heinrich for Brian Ó Beaglaoich , David Clifford for Conor Geaney , Keith Evans for Burns , Sean O’Brien for Joe O’Connor . DUBLIN: Evan COMERFORD 6; Davy BYRNE 7, Sean MacMAHON 7, Theo CLANCY 7; Brian HOWARD 7, Cian MURPHY 7, Alex GAVIN 7; Greg McENEANEY 7, Tom LAHIFF 7; Kevin LAHIFF 6, Sean BUGLER 7, Ciaran KILKENNY 8; Niall SCULLY 6, Eoghan O’DONNELL 6, Sean LOWRY 5. Subs: Lee Gannon for McEneaney , Luke Breathnach for Lowry , Lorcan O’Dell for Kevin Lahiff , Niall O’Callaghan for O’Donnell , Davy Keogh for Gannon .“Even if we didn’t get the result, which is a bit of a bonus, I was just very pleased with that effort in the second half, the bit of bottle that the lads showed.”In a game that swung wildly, standout performers over the 70 minutes were scarce but O’Shea kicked a pair of lovely two-pointers in the first half and a superb curling effort into the wind in the second.First Dublin appearance since last year’s League final and needs to do more if he is to unseat Stephen Cluxton. Kickouts were a struggle and he coughed up 1-1 in errors.To keep up to date with all the latest GAA news, sign-up to our GAA newsletter here.
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