Philly McMahon praises resolve of his team-mates

Tue, 4th April 2017

Dublin defender Philly McMahon has praised the mental and physical resolve of his team-mates ahead of this Sunday's NFL Division 1 final against Kerry in Croke Park (4.0).

The Dubs were six points down in the 48th minute against Monaghan in last Sunday's clash in Clones yet outscored the Farney County men 2-6 to 0-3 over the close of the game to book their berth in Sunday's decider.

Both of Dublin's goals came from sub with Bernard Brogan (1-1) and Jack McCaffrey (1-0) helping Jim Gavin's men out of a very tight corner.

It's not the only time in this year's league that Dublin 'pulled the game out of the fire'.

In their second game against Tyrone in Croke Park the Ulster side led 1-7 to 0-5 but were down to 14 men after the sending off of Mark Bradley on a dreadful night for football and the Dubs turned the game around to force a draw with points from Ciaran Kilkenny, Brian Fenton and three Dean Rock frees including the last one in the fourth minute of added time from 48 metres out.

Dublin also bounced back from the concession of two goals within a minute late in the opening half of their encounter with Donegal in Ballybofey to trail 2-2 to 0-5 to eventually take the lead before Michael Murphy tied it up with a late free.

The draw with Kerry in Tralee was another example during this dramatic roller-coaster of a league when Dublin showed true grit to salvage something from a game that looked to be headed the way of their opponents.

"I think mentally we’re tough,” says Philly. “We know that we can’t stop. We’re going to play right until the end.

"We played Monaghan on Sunday and when they scored their goal you have players running up into your face celebrating and you think, ‘hold on a second, they think this game is over’.

“And they’re probably thinking in their head, ‘when is this going to be over?’ For us, it’s not like that. We nearly want the ref to play 10 minutes more.

“Whether we’re winning comfortably or it’s a tight game, that’s the way I look at it."

Kildare and Galway meet in the FL Division 2 final (2.0) before the clash of Dublin versus Kerry.

DUBLIN v KERRY

They meet for a second successive year in the Allianz FootballLeague Division 1 decider, having also clashed in last season’s All-Ireland semi-final and again in this year’s League when they drew a tense encounter in Tralee last month.

Dublin are seeking to extend their unbeaten run in the League and Championship to 37 games. They haven’t lost since Kerry beat them in the 2015 League and are now seeking a victory which would secure the Football League Division 1 title for a fifth successive year, a feat last achieved by Mayo in 1934-35-36-37-38.

Dublin, who are chasing their 13^th Allianz League title, beat Kerry by 2-18 to 0-13 in last year’s Allianz League final and by 0-22 to 2-14 in the All-Ireland semi-final. Last month’s clash ended 0-13 each. Kerry are bidding for their 20^th Allianz League title and their first since 2009.

PATHS TO THE FINAL

DUBLIN

Dublin 0-18 Cavan 0-11

Dublin 0-10 Tyrone 1-7

Dublin 1-8 Donegal 2-5
Dublin 1-16 Mayo 0-7

Kerry 0-13 Dublin 0-13
Dublin 2-29 Roscommon 0-14

Dublin 2-15 Monaghan 1-15

KERRY

Kerry 2-17 Donegal 1-17

Mayo 0-15 Kerry 1-10

Monaghan 2-8 Kerry 1-10
Kerry 1-19 Roscommon 1-13
Kerry 0-13 Dublin 0-13
Cavan 1-10 Kerry 0-13

Kerry 1-21 Tyrone 2-11