Dublin manager Jim Gavin impressed by young Donegal

Dublin manager Jim Gavin feels Donegal are a class team and he expects them to have a good year.  

“I wouldn’t believe the talk that they are going into transition,” he said after yesterday’s draw.

“They are under the stewardship of Rory Gallagher. He’s won an All-Ireland with them and multiple Ulster titles with them.

“He’s going to do a very good job with this year’s team and they are going to be very difficult to beat in the league and in the championship, in Ulster and the All-Ireland series.

“I’m sure they’ll do well this year.”

The Dublin boss was happy how his side regrouped at half-time after been hit with two Donegal goals before half-time.    

“We’ve gone through that in lots of games over the last few seasons, so that’s how the game ebbs and flows.

“Certainly over the last couple of seasons it hasn’t knocked these Dublin players off their stride.

“We went in at half-time, we regrouped and the reality of it was stick with the gameplan and go through the phases.

“I thought they showed great grit again in difficult conditions and it was always going to be a very low-scoring game with those under-foot conditions as well.

“I just thought up to the goals we controlled the game very well.

“I thought in the second half we controlled it well too, we got ahead and one or two decisions unfortunately went against us, which seems to be a common theme for this year.”