Dublin have been crowned Leinster champions for an 11th consecutive season, running out 0-20 to 1-9 winners over Kildare at Croke Park this afternoon.
For all of the talk about Dublin coming back towards the rest of the pack at provincial level, it never felt as though there was much of chance of them losing this game.
Kildare did have a few moment in the first half, but even then they still trailed by four points at the interval. Once The Dubs put a mini run together in the second period, the game was all but over.
They then choked the life out of it for the last ten minutes, playing keep ball as Jack O'Connor's side could do little to get their hands on possession.
In the end, it was the most routine of victories.
Dublin have been crowned Leinster champions for the 11th consecutive season after an eight-point victory over Kildare at Croke Park 🏆
When will we finally see someone beat The Dubs at provincial level? pic.twitter.com/cQEYrXYRIF— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) August 1, 2021
Dublin will now be looking forward to an All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo in two weeks time, a fixture that is likely to provide a sterner test than the one they faced this afternoon.
A step up in performance might be required in order to ensure a positive result on that occasion. Dublin look rather pedestrian in attack at times today, something that will have to change against James Horan's side.
Speaking on The Sunday Game, Oisín McConville said that Dessie Farrell's side will need to step it up a few gears for the semi-final.
Think of the variation of Dublin forwards play, I didn't think there was any. They get it, they're patient, they wait for a player to come off the shoulder, and generally speaking they kick a score.
That didn't happen all time today. There was no direct ball into the Dublin full forward line.
Colm touched on the two Basquels (Colm and Ryan). One ball went in (to them), they played a one-two, and kicked it over the bar. It looked as though there was a bit more energy generated by those two boys going in there. Before that it was very pedestrian.
The competition is being ramped up significantly now.
Mayo are a team with a lot of know how. They might not have won an All-Ireland but they've been there or there abouts. They have big game experience, even from last year's All-Ireland final.
They might have a young team with [Tommy] Conroy, [Eoin] McLoughlin and those boys, but they've already played in an All-Ireland final. They have plenty about them.
Dublin need to add a bit of variety to their forward line or there are teams left in the competition that are capable of snuffing that out.
It will be interesting to see how things play out in a couple of weeks.
The majority of neutral viewers will certainly be hoping that Mayo provide a very stern challenge.
SEE ALSO: Joe Brolly Puts Forward Intriguing Proposal For Championship Reform
