Dublin 2-17 Tyrone 1-14: Dubs see off Tyrone in style

Dublin are All-Ireland champions for the fourth year in a row, beating Tyrone 2-17 to 1-14 in the final.

Most viewed Tyrone’s trip to Croke Park as one of more hope than expectation, with the Red Hands rated as six-point underdogs. On the evidence at hand, it was little surprise. Dublin, hot on the heels of a fourth All-Ireland title in succession, had not lost a championship game since 2014.

Meanwhile, Tyrone became the first team to ever compete in a final having lost two championship games that summer.

The Ulster side took to the field with purpose, setting up offensively and pushing up for Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs. In the early stages, Dublin looked rattled as the Red Hands raced into a 0-05 to 0-01 lead with Mark Bradley, Tiernan McCann and Connor McAliskey kicking scores.

However, Dublin finally awoke in the 18th minute. Ciarán Kilkenny broke forward to score his first point. Moments later from Niall Morgan’s wayward kick-out, the Dubs broke and won a penalty as Paul Mannion was hauled to the ground. The Kilmacud Crokes star took it himself to bury it into the roof of the net.

Another goal, this time from Niall Scully was followed by a brace of Dean Rock points.

All had changed utterly, and in the blink of an eye, Tyrone’s four-point surplus had turned into a seven-point deficit by half-time.

Tyrone started the second half brightly, scoring two points through Connor McAliskey and Kieran McGeary to pull it back to five. However, that’s as good as it got as the tie looked over as a contest with 30 minutes left on the clock.

The Dublin forwards teased with the opposition defence at times as Ciarán Kilkenny and Brian Fenton stormed forward.

Tyrone did battle admirably, but the gap between Dublin and the chasing pack was highlighted in the manner how the champions looked like they had multiple gears if needed.

Peter Harte converted a penalty with four minutes left on the clock to bring it back to five. Moments later, John Small was shown a second yellow card as Lee Brennan converted a free to bring it back to four. However, Dublin were comfortable as substitute Kevin McManamon finished off a Dublin break to restore a five-point cushion.

Ultimately, Tyrone had left themselves with too much to do, as Dublin’s bench steered them home to a six-point victory.

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Referee: Conor Lane (Cork)

Attendance: 82,300 (approx)

Scorers for Dublin: Dean Rock 0-07 (0-03 frees, 0-01 ’45), Paul Mannion 1-01 (1-00 penalty), Ciarán Kilkenny 0-03, Niall Scully 1-00, Brian Fenton 0-02, Brian Howard 0-01, Jack McCaffrey 0-01, Michael Darragh Macauley 0-01, Kevin McManamon 0-01.

Scorers for Tyrone: Peter Harte 1-01 (1-00 penalty, 0-01 free), Lee Brennan 0-03 (0-03 frees), Connor McAliskey 0-03 (0-01 free), Cathal McShane 0-02, Mark Bradley 0-02, Mattie Donnelly 0-01, Kieran McGeary 0-01, Tiernan McCann 0-01.

Dublin

1. Stephen Cluxton (captain)

2. Philly McMahon

6. Jonny Cooper

4. Eoin Murchan

5. John Small

3. Cian O’Sullivan

7. Jack McCaffrey

8. Brian Fenton

9. James McCarthy

10. Niall Scully

11. Con O’Callaghan

12. Brian Howard

13. Paul Mannion

14. Ciarán Kilkenny

15. Dean Rock

Subs:

Michael Fitzsimons for Cian O’Sullivan (27th minute)

Cormac Costello for Niall Scully (53rd minute)

Kevin McManamon for Paul Mannion (58th minute)

Darren Daly for Eoin Murchan (59th minute)

Eric Lowndes for Jonny Cooper (64th minute)

Michael Darragh Macauley for Dean Rock (67th minute)

Tyrone

1. Niall Morgan

3. Ronan McNamee

5. Tiernan McCann

4. Pádraig Hampsey

12. Kieran McGeary

2. Michael McKernan

18. Rory Brennan

8. Colm Cavanagh

9. Cathal McShane

10. Mattie Donnelly (captain)

11. Niall Sludden

25. Conor Meyler

13. Mark Bradley

7. Peter Harte

15. Connor McAliskey

Subs:

Lee Brennan for Conor Meyler (40th minute)

Frank Burns for Niall Sludden (47th minute)

Richard Donnelly for Connor McAliskey (49th minute)

Harry Loughran for Kieran McGeary (49th minute – black card)

Declan McClure for Cathal McShane (55th minute)

Ronan O’Neill for Mark Bradley (63rd minute)

(c) Sky News 2018: Dublin 2-17 Tyrone 1-14: Dubs see off Tyrone in style