Colm Cooper expects Dublin's rivals to take hope from their poor second half showing against Meath.

The six-in-a-row All-Ireland champions, who have made a habit of blitzing teams after half-time, looked a pale shadow of their former selves as they saw an 11-point half-time lead whittled down to three before late points from Brian Fenton, Cormac Costello and Ciaran Kilkenny secured a 2-16 to 1-13 victory. The Dubs also failed to impress in their first round win over Wexford, leading many to believe that they are there for the taking this year.

"In the first half I think we saw Dublin back to their brilliant best," Cooper noted on RTÉ's The Sunday Game.

"They were ruthless, efficient - [Niall] Scully was pulling the strings for them and when you've Con [O'Callaghan] and [Ciarán] Kilkenny up front - they looked devastating at times.

"But they were just so lacklustre in the second half. I don't know what was wrong with them - maybe they got too comfortable?"

The Kerry great continued: "I think you have to give a lot of credit to Meath. They came back and dominated the third quarter in particular. Dublin were just off the pace; I know they're missing some players.

"I think it gives a little bit of confidence to the chasing pack that maybe Dublin aren't at the level that they were before. It just makes it all a little more interesting."

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