New Dublin manager Dessie Farrell says he was 'delighted' with the shift his players put in in his first competitive game in charge.
His Boys in Blue played out a 1-19 draw with Kerry at Croke Park with new Kingdom captain David Clifford levelling it with a free in the 79th minute in the first round of the Alllianz National Football League.
Speaking to Off The Ball after the game, Farrell said he expected a tough contest and that he was happy with his side's performance.
"It was a highly competitive game, a great start to the National League campaign. Both teams went at it in proper fashion and we're delighted with the result.
"You're right in at the deep end with this one [the fixture] and we knew Kerry coming to Croke Park were going to be very, very competitive - as they were and we're just delighted with how our boys performed.
"We're only back two weeks or so and there's plenty of work to be done for sure but the effort tonight was fantastic from the lads.
"As we came into it in the last period you just got a sense it was going to go down to the wire and that's what happened."
Both sides finished with 14 men as Dublin's Eric Lowndes and Kerry's Sean O'Shea were both given their marching orders for two yellow cards.
Farrell was also asked about referee Seán Hurson's performance after the game which had 14 cards in total and many felt was quite stop-start, particularly in the second half.
"It's hard to comment and to be honest, I don't really want to comment. It's a tough game now to referee and that's all I'll say, there's so much going on and new rules as well. The task is unenviable.
"We'll obviously look at the tape and see how we did in terms of some of those decisions. I think there's definitely an issue around some of our discipline. We gave away a lot of frees, scorable frees and that's something we'll look at."
There was a crowd of over 40,000 at the game which was highly anticipated following their All-Ireland final that went to a replay back in the Autumn.
Farrell said afterward that it's great to see such enthusiasm for a competition that's especially important for younger players.
"I'm delighted for them and that's what the league is for us, about trying to blood some new talent and what better place to do it than Croke Park in front of that type of a crowd."
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