'It's very hard to win Leinster'

Tullamore's Jack Maher competes for a ball with with Cal Doran of Cuala ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Cuala football boss Derek Dunne insists that the Leinster club SFC is anything but a cakewalk for the Dublin champions.

Clubs from the capital have dominated the eastern province for many years, but Cuala’s 0-16 to 1-11 first round victory over Tullamore at Parnell Park last Sunday courtesy of Con O’Callaghan’s late two-pointer would appear to back up Dunne’s theory that Leinster is hard won.

“This idea that the Dublin teams are going to saunter through Leinster is absolute rubbish,” he told reporter Paul Keane.

“You saw the quality of that Tullamore team. We’re playing Sarsfields next, another very good team that we played in a challenge match this year.

“The standard right across Leinster has increased over the last couple of years. It’s very, very hard to win Leinster. It’s a very, very competitive championship as far as I’m concerned.”