Derry Gaa Rory Gallagher Dublin Football Sport Farrell as Derry Gaa Rory Gallagher Dublin

Dublin balancing act pleases Dessie Farrell as Leinster championship looms

rte.ie

Dessie Farrell was happy with how Dublin were able to balance their Allianz Football League promotion push with blooding emerging players as they celebrated victory in the Division 2 decider.They avenged an earlier league defeat to Derry with a 4-06 to 0-11 win at Croke Park on Sunday to cap a return to the top division for next year with a trophy.With Dublin set to open their Leinster Championship campaign against the winner of the preliminary round fixture between Wexford and Laois, Farrell told RTÉ Sport that they could be satisfied with how the start of this year has gone."Our objective was to gain promotion and we did that and today is just icing on the cake," he said, adding that planning for the Leinster championship would start "immediately"."It was great to get another competitive game and throughout the league we were trying to get that balance right between being very competitive to ensure you were setting yourself up the best opportunity to get promoted, but also trying to blood some younger, newer players and maybe try out some different tactics and strategies as well."So it was a bit of a balancing act and thankfully we were able to get through in the way we did."One setback was an injury to Dean Rock who was withdrawn early in the match, with Farrell confirming that it was an ankle injury."I'm not sure to what extent (the injury is).

Hopefully it won't be too bad but we'll get a picture on that in the morning," he said.The Dublin manager added that the pursuit of goals had been a target for his team, with the approach paying off handsomely."Obviously goals are hugely helpful, particularly in low-scoring games like that.

Related News
The focus is on the relegation battle in today's Premier League games. The action gets underway from half 12, as Leeds face Fulham at Craven Cottage.
For half of the teams in the BKT United Rugby Championship, it'll be season over by Saturday night. For others, it's only getting started.
Ciaran McFaul returns to the Derry squad for their Ulster championship opener against Fermanagh in Brewster Park, while Conor Glass been named to start despite limping off in the recent Division 2 final.
RTÉ GAA analyst Enda McGinley believes that Derry manager Rory Gallagher's decision to operate with a razor-thin panel could be exposed in the coming months as they prepare to start their Ulster Championship defence this weekend.
Enda McGinley and Niall McCoy join Mikey Stafford and Rory O'Neill to look ahead to the two Ulster SFC matches taking place this weekend.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has confirmed a youthful Leinster squad to travel to South Africa for their upcoming BKT United Rugby Championship games against the Lions (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player) and the Bulls, with out-half Sam Prendergast included in the group.

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.