Dublin balancing act pleases Dessie Farrell as Leinster championship looms

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One setback was an injury to Dean Rock who was withdrawn early in the match, with Farrell confirming that it was an ankle injury.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. They're big momentum shifters and it's something we'd spoken about, something we've