Sean Cavanagh was surprisingly upbeat after Tyrone's narrow defeat to Dublin in the Allianz Football League Division 1 final.

"We know we aren't a million miles away," he told the Irish News.

"As much as anything else, it is a morale-boosting loss. But there is no real consolation in that because we came down here to win.

"It's part of the learning curve. Hopefully we can take that into the championship because we will need to improve for Ballybofey (where Tyrone meet Donegal in the first round of the Ulster championship)."

The midfielder, who many felt should have been awarded a free in the last action of the game, admitted that Tyrone's shooting let them down in the closing stages.

"Whenever the chances presented themselves in those 10 or 15 minutes, they (Dublin) had men who came off the bench and did damage.

"Unfortunately, some of our shots just didn't carry the way we wanted them to. If that was the breeze, I'm not sure. It wasn't a bad day at the office, but at the same time there is no silverware on the bus." Tweet

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