Shane Walsh described Kilmacud Crokes' win over St Mary's of Louth as a "cheap lesson" after an imperfect display led to a few scares for the three-in-a-row seeking champions.
Leading by double figures at the break, Crokes were reeled in by the resurgent hosts, seeing the advantage reduced to two points.
That seemed to kick the Dublin outfit into life as they saw out victory with five points to spare.
They stand on the verge of history in the bid to land three Leinster crowns in succession.
Walsh told RTÉ Sport: "We were our own worst enemy in terms of mistakes. In fairness to St Mary's they punished us and got the goal off a poor turnover. The great thing about it was we got out of it and it was a cheap lesson rather than an expensive one."
The Galway man and team-mate Paul Mannion notched over half of their 1-16 total with 0-10.
Mannion admitted relief to come away with the win. "Just blessed to get out with the win. It was five [points win] in the end but it doesn't feel like that at all. There was huge pressure at the start of the second half. We knew it was part of their plan.
"They won the toss and chose to play against the wind in the first half and backed themselves to get a big squeeze on. They got it back to two points and we just had to get control of the game midway through the half which we managed to do to see it out in the end.
"We said before throw-in that we need to start the game fast because of their plan. At the start of the first half they were just minding the ball and trying to keep the score low. They backed themselves to make up the deficit. In fairness they did a great job and we were lucky to get there."
Crokes take on Naas in the decider in December as they look to land yet another provincial title.
Mannion offered little in terms of what it could mean to the club: "We're just going to take it one game at a time now. We have the opportunity to do something special in a couple of weeks. We'll review this game and the opposition and get ready for two weeks’ time"
Walsh has enjoyed a busy schedule with club and county since his controversial transfer from Kilkerrin-Clonberne to the Dublin side.
"It's the same as any other football field. My first game for the club ironically was here just over 12 months ago. Now we're back here today. It has been a mad 14 or 16 months but it has been very enjoyable. The lads would be very good.
"I just go to training and do the same work as other lads. I'm probably catching up a bit on others from coming back late but it's great. It's a great challenge to have and now we can look forward to the Leinster final."
