DUBLIN’S 36-GAME unbeaten run came to an end on Sunday, as Kerry narrowly ended their bid for a fifth straight Division 1 league title.
The width of a post was all that was between the sides after an enthralling 70 minutes, as Dean Rock’s long-distance free was inches away from forcing extra-time.
Paul Flynn made just his third start of the year against Kerry after a persistent groin injury hampered him over the last couple of years.
For Flynn, it was the mind rather than the body that was hurting after Kerry’s thrilling victory.
“The body’s good,” he told The42. “I’m probably licking a few wounds psychologically rather than physically.
“I feel okay. I’ve a slight ankle injury but it’s not too bad.”
Kerry’s 0-20 to 1-16 win handed them a first league crown since 2009, in a competition Dublin won every year between 2013 and 2016.
Opportunities to unwind during the season are few and far between, so Flynn enjoyed having a few beers with his teammates after the game, even if the result didn’t go their way.
Damien Dempsey even joined the squad for a late night sing-song in Coppers.
“The league campaign is so full on that you don’t get a chance to do that. It was good.
“In fairness a lot of lads weren’t in the best frame of mind, but still at the same time it is good to let the hair down a little bit. It would have been nice if we had a win.
“Damien was singing a few songs in Coppers, it was pretty cool. I’m a fan so it was cool to see him.”
Dublin have been a model of consistency since Jim Gavin took charge in 2013 and while their bid for a fifth straight league title fell just short, they’re still warm favourites to lift the Sam Maguire for a third year in-a-row.
Flynn believes the culture within the squad has been a driving force behind their success over the past few years.
The Fingallians star is confident the All-Ireland champions will return with the right attitude and bounce back from this set-back.
“We have a very performance-driven culture,” Flynn says. “Whoever is performing well plays and with that is the strength of the panel and the importance of the panel.
“Everybody is valued and sees their role in the team. I think that’s a really important part of the way we operate. We can see that with the amount of games that we win and come back in, because of the lads who come off the bench really value that.
“That comes through in training too, when we’re playing squad games or whatever, so that’s the most important part, that performance culture we have.”
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