Senior Footballers Beat Sligo To Secure Quarter Final Spot

DUBLIN 3-23 

SLIGO 0-8 

Dublin finished the group stages of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship on a positive note as they overcame Sligo by twenty-four points at Kingspan Breffni Park on Sunday afternoon.

In doing so, the Dubs finished in top spot, leaving them with a quarter-final spot and crucially, a weekend off as they look to regain a title last won in 2020.

Sligo may have enjoyed a promising start to the contest but once Con O’Callaghan found the net in the 20^th minute, it opened up the floodgates with second-half goals by Colm Basquel and the returning Eoin Murchan sealing a one-sided success.

Murchan’s return to action alongside that from the bench of Jack McCaffrey was another positive to take from the afternoon although a late injury to Seán Bugler that saw Dublin finish the game with fourteen players was a disappointing conclusion to events.

Dublin took their time in finding their collective stride and despite opening the scoring through a 4^th minute free by Paddy Small, Sligo drew level thanks to a fine effort from Darragh Cummins.

A Ciaran Kilkenny point restored Dublin’s lead by the 10^th minute, fisting over with the semblance of a goal chance on offer before Sligo hit back to take the lead following points by Niall Murphy and Sean Carrabine.

Dublin lacked sharpness at this point but suddenly kicked into gear as Small eschewed a goal opportunity to leave O’Callaghan with the simplest of tasks to palm home from close range.

A free by Small and a Bugler point added to Dublin’s lead but they were fortunate not to concede a goal in the 25^th minute as Pat Spillane fired wide of the upright when racing through on Stephen Cluxton.

Dublin continued to rack up the scores at the opposite end with John Small and O’Callaghan on target before Lee Gannon and O’Callaghan pushed their side 1-8 to 0-3 clear by the 29^th minute.

A Carrabine free briefly stalled Dublin’s momentum but they soon regained their control as two O’Callaghan scores and further points by Gannon, Basquel and Bugler moved them 1-13 to 0-4 clear by the interval.

Basquel lit up the early stages of the second-half, pointing in the 40^th minute before embarking on one of his trademark slaloming runs that culminated in a fine left-footed finish to the back of the net.

Brian Howard clipped over soon after before Dublin’s third goal arrived as Murchan was in the right place at the right time to punch home from Basquel’s inviting delivery.

The Dubs lost a degree of intensity from this juncture, tagging on points through Gannon and O’Callaghan as the third quarter came to an end before Sligo opened their second-half account through a ‘45’ from Carrabine in the 53^rd minute.

Paddy Small added a brace as the contest petered out with substitute Paul Mannion also splitting the uprights with another palmed attempt in the 65^th minute.

Their opponents clipped over two consolation scores in the dying embers of the game with Basquel and Mannion adding to their personal tallies to complete a resounding win for the Dubs.

Scorers – Dublin: C O’Callaghan 1-5, C Basquel 1-3 (0-1f), P Small 0-5 (3f), E Murchan 1-0, L Gannon 0-3, S Bugler, P Mannion 0-2 each, J Small, B Howard, C Kilkenny 0-1 apiece. Sligo: S Carrabine 0-4 (2f, 1 ‘45’), N Murphy 0-2, D Cummins, P O’Connor 0-1 apiece.

Dublin: S Cluxton; D Newcombe, M Fitzsimons, E Murchan; B Howard, J Small, L Gannon; B Fenton, J McCarthy; N Scully, C O’Callaghan, S Bugler; P Small, C Basquel, C Kilkenny. Subs: T Lahiff for McCarthy (46), C Murphy for J Small (50), P Mannion for Scully (50), L O’Dell for O’Callaghan (53), J McCaffrey for Murchan (59).

Sligo: A Devaney; L Nicholson, B Cox, E Lyons; L Towey, J Lavin, D Cummins; C Lally, P Kilcoyne; P McNamara, F Cawley, A Reilly; N Murphy, S Carrabine, P Spillane. Subs: M Gordon for Towey (29), G O’Kelly Lynch for Lally (50), M Walsh for Cummins (51), P O’Connor for Reilly (52), K Cawley for Lavin (61).

Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)