IT’S DEJA BLUE
STEPHEN CLUXTON
200 not out in League and Championship, six All-irelands. Surely he’ll be back for the five-in-a-row.
PHILLY MCMAHON
Silly peno concession summed up a so-so display. Little impact on the counter-attack.
CIAN O’SULLIVAN
Selected in midfield, his injury woes caught up with him as he only lasted 20 minutes.
EOIN MURCHAN
Undaunted in his first final. Solid and not afraid to get involved in attack before injury.
JOHN SMALL
Stuck like glue to Peter Harte but paid the price when he picked up a second yellow.
JONNY COOPER
All-action display as appetite for rough and tumble never fades. Vital first-half block.
JACK MCCAFFREY
Magnificent end to a superb season for the Clontarf flyer after cruciate comeback.
BRIAN FENTON
Exuded class, calm and guile once again. Two second-half points just settled nerves.
JAMES MCCARTHY
Industrious and everwilling in the middle of the park. A fine foil to Fenton.
NIALL SCULLY
Quiet again but scored vital second goal from which Tyrone never recovered.
CON O’CALLAGHAN
Strangely leggy early on and caught in possession twice, but built nicely into the contest.
BRIAN HOWARD
Scored an important second half point and won a dangerous high ball in defence late on.
Decisive with the first-half penalty (that he also won) that turned the tide. Replaced.
Eventually slipped his marker Tiernan Mccann and become more influential. Unlike him to miss two first half free as Dublin wobbled recovered well.
Mick Fitzsimons 7
Cormac Costello 7
Kevin Mcmanamon 6
Darren Daly 6
Eric Lowndes 6
Michael Darragh Macauley 7 DUBLIN cemented their position as one of the greatest sides in GAA history yesterday.
And the next 12 months will be dominated by talk of whether they can definitively become THE greatest by claiming the five-in-a-row that eluded Wexford in 1919, Kerry in 1933 and 1982, Cork hurlers in 1945 and Kilkenny hurlers in 2010. By winning four-in-a-row they surpassed the other three teams from the capital to have won three on the trot, all of them from 1923 and back, the great Galway team of the 60s and a couple of other Kerry outfits too.
Jim Gavin fell to his knees as the final whistle sounded in the 1995 All-ireland final win over Tyrone, but Gavin the manager doesn’t do displays of jubilation, at least not publicly.
Instead, there were just casual handshakes with his backroom team, commiserating with Mickey Harte and some embraces and back slaps with his players.
In fairness, Dublin were on the rack as the 1995 All-ireland final concluded and there was elation mixed with relief as they ended a barren spell without success.
The circumstances could hardly have been much different yesterday.
While they had to endure some uncomfortable moments, there was no sense they were in any real danger of letting the four-in-a-row slip.
In keeping with several of their displays throughout the year, particularly once outside Leinster, Dublin didn’t make roadkill of the opposition when it looked as though they might but a second quarter surge essentially did for Tyrone.
The 2-5 they got, with just 0-1 by way of reply, was devastating and Tyrone never recovered, despite some late defiance.
To win yesterday the Ulster side needed a generous helping of fortune and for Dublin to have an off day.
For the first quarter, the latter was certainly in train as the champions were sloppy and lethargic, reminiscent of their start in the drawn final against Mayo two years ago.
Tyrone built a 0-5 to 0-1 lead after 15 minutes. They’d won a couple of Stephen Cluxton kickouts and got scores off both, while forcing a few turnovers that saw their supporters warm to their efforts further. Mark Bradley’s eighth minute point which put them in front for the first time was nicely worked while Connor Mcaliskey’s effort off the outside of his boot put them four clear. By then Dublin had four wides and had dropped another couple short but a period of con-
PAUL MANNION
CIARAN KILKENNY
DEAN ROCK
REPLACEMENTS