Senior footballers book last-four spot in All-Ireland race

Mon, 22nd July 2019

Dublin senior footballers booked their berth in the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals with last Saturday night's comfortable (2-26 to 0-14) victory over Roscommon in their quarter-final Group 2 Phase 2 clash at Croke Park.

Tyrone are Dublin's opponents on Sunday week in their concluding group game in Healy Park, Omagh with Mickey Harte's side also having secured their last-four ticket.

However, it's not a case that there is nothing riding on the game - both will be keen to maintain winning momentum at this time of year but perhaps both might have one eye on the quick turnaround to the All-Ireland semi-finals and their opponents in that clash.

Some of Dublin's football in the opening half against the Rossies was spellbinding.

Con O'Callaghan was majestic at full-forward, winning ball, laying it off, kicking scores and taking on his man. He proved a thorn in Roscommon's side and the sending off of Conor Daly (yellow, then black cards) after an act borne out of frustration at Con's excellence.

Dublin mixed their game-plan to telling effect with a variety of a running game plus some early long ball to the inside line paying rich dividends.

The return to the starting 15 of James McCarthy and Jonny Cooper following injury was a timely boost to Dublin's championship credentials with both acquitting themselves well.

McCarthy, in particular, bossed his head-to-head battles and broke ball intelligently around the middle of the park, something Dublin had failed to do in their previous 'Super 8' victory over Cork seven days previously.

Jim Gavin was in the position that he could withdraw some of his frontline players between the 40th and 50th minutes of the game with one of the replacements, Paddy Small, earning some more championship experience.

The talented young Ballymun Kickhams man kicked three stylish points while his explosive power and control of the ball presented new headaches for the Rosocmmon defence.

As ever Dublin's kickout strategies gave them a great platform, with Dublin retaining 19 of Stephen Cluxton's 20 kickouts.

That compares favourably with that of the other counties in action over the weekend - Roscommon 27 out of 38, Kerry 21/26, Donegal 22/25, Mayo 16/21, Meath 16/25, Tyrone 16/23 and Cork 19/21.

Last summer Dublin also travelled to Omagh in the 'Super 8s'. That time though it was for their Phase 2 game when victory against the Red Hands (1-14 to 0-14) not alone secured them with a semi-final spot with one game remaining in the group (against Roscommon) but it also sharpened them up for the conclusion of the All-Ireland race.

It was a frenetic, physical contest from start to finish with a thundering early shoulder on Cian O'Sullivan setting the tone for the physical stakes and as a contest it did not disappoint with some excellent defending and scoring by both counties.

Such was the intensity both sides made uncharacteristic mistakes also and Dublin came away knowing the execution at times let them down, as on several occasions they lost the ball in attack and Tyrone countered very effectively to punish them.

Dublin led 0-7 to 0-5 at the half-time interval. The crucial goal game five minutes into the second-half when James McCarthy made a surging run to link up with his midfield partner Brian Fenton. His initial shot was saved by Niall Morgan but the Ballymun Kickhams man reacted brilliantly to fist the rebound to the net.

At one stage of the second half Dublin pushed the lead out to six points but Tyrone came at Dublin in swarms late on and reduced the deficit to just two points and they also missed a pressure free (Ronan O'Neill) before the Dubs broke forward for sub Paul Flynn to settle the nerves with a point.

Dublin held strong in the face of much late Tyrone pressure with Jonny Cooper enjoying a storming finish to the contest as he emerged out of defence in possession on a number of occasions.

There may not be as much at stake when they meet in two weekends' time but anytime Dublin and Tyrone meet it provides plenty of talking points and the upcoming encounter should prove no different.

SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Dublin have scored 13-108 and conceded 1-56 in their five Championship game to date (wins over Louth, Kildare, Meath, Cork, Roscommon). Sixteen players have contributed to the scoring tally.

Cormac Costello 1-25 (0-14f, 0-4 '45')

Dean Rock 1-20 (0-14f, 0-1 '45')

Paul Mannion 0-17

Con O'Callaghan 2-9

Brian Fenton 2-7

Ciarán Kilkenny 1-9

Michael Darragh Macauley 3-0

Philly McMahon 1-3

Niall Scully 1-3

Jack McCaffrey 1-3

Paddy Small 0-5

Brian Howard 0-2

Kevin McManamon 0-2 (0-1f)

Michael Fitzsimons 0-1

Paddy Andrews 0-1

John Small 0-1

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LEINSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL

SATURDAY, MAY 25: O'Moore Park, Portlaoise

DUBLIN 5-21 LOUTH 0-10

SCORERS - Dublin: C Costello 1-12 (0-10f, 0-1 '45'), B Fenton 1-1, C O'Callaghan, P McMahon, MD Macauley 1-0 each, P Mannion, N Scully 0-2 each, C Kilkenny, P Small, K McManamon (0-1f), M Fitzsimons 0-1 each. Louth: E Burns 0-4 (0-2f), J McEneaney 0-2, C Downey, C McKeever, A McDonnell, E Callaghan 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; D Byrne, C O'Sullivan, M Fitzsimons; J McCaffrey, J Small, J McCarthy; B Fenton, D Gavin; N Scully, C Kilkenny, B Howard; P Mannion, C O'Callaghan, C Costello. Subs: MD Macauley for Gavin (40), P McMahon for O'Sullivan (40), R O'Carroll for McCaffrey (47), P Small for O'Callaghan (47), K McManamon for Scully (54), S Bugler for Costello (63).

LOUTH: F Sheeky; F Donohoe, E Carolan, J Craven; A Williams, B Duffy, J Clutterbuck; T Durnin, J Califf; C Downey, J McEneaney, C McKeever; A McDonnell, R Burns, D Byrne. Subs: D Corcoran for Donohoe (ht), S Mulroy for Byrne (ht), C Early for Califf (43), D Maguire for Clutterbuck (46), E Callaghan for Craven (bc, 54), E Duffy for McEneaney (60).

REF: J Henry (Mayo).

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LEINSTER SFC SEMI-FINAL

SUNDAY, JUNE 9: Croke Park

DUBLIN 0-26 KILDARE 0-11

SCORERS - Dublin: C Costello 0-9 (0-2f, 0-2 ’45’), P Mannion 0-7, C O’Callaghan, C Kilkenny 0-3 each, B Fenton 0-2, B Howard, P Small 0-1 each. Kildare: A Tyrrell 0-4 (0-1f), B McCormack 0-3, N Flynn (0-1f), M O’Grady, K Feely, D Hyland 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; M Fitzsimons, C O’Sullivan, D Byrne; J McCarthy, J Small, J McCaffrey; B Fenton, MD Macauley; N Scully, C Kilkenny, B Howard; P Mannion, C Costello, C O’Callaghan. Subs: P Small for Macauley (53), P McMahon for O’Sullivan (53), E Murchan for McCaffrey (62), D Gavin for Kilkenny (62), P Andrews for O’Callaghan (64), R O’Carroll for Fitzsimons (65), D Gavin (inj, 72).

KILDARE: M Donnellan; P Kelly, M O’Grady, M Dempsey; D Hyland, E Doyle, K Cribbin; K Feely, T Moolick; D Slattery, F Conway, C Healy; A Tyrrell, B McCormack, N Flynn. Subs: K O’Callaghan for Flynn (29), C O’Donoghue for Moolick (57), J Hyland for Healy (59), E O’Flaherty for Cribbin (61), C Hartley for Slattery (67).

REF: C Lane (Cork).

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LEINSTER SFC FINAL

SUNDAY, JUNE 23: Croke Park

DUBLIN 1-17 MEATH 0-4

SCORERS - Dublin: D Rock 0-4 (0-1f), C O'Callaghan 1-0, C Costello (0-2f, 0-1 '45'), P Mannion 0-3 each, J McCaffrey 0-2, C Kilkenny, B Howard, P McMahon, B Fenton, P Andrews 0-1 each. Meath: M Newman 0-3 (0-1f), B Menton 0-1.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; P McMahon, M Fitzsimons, J McCaffrey; D Byrne, C O'Sullivan, J Small; B Fenton, J McCarthy; N Scully, C Kilkenny, B Howard; C Costello, P Mannion, C O'Callaghan. Subs: MD Macauley for McCarthy (32), D Rock for Howard (51), K McManamon for Costello (58), P Small for Kilkenny (61), P Andrews for P Small (64), R O'Carroll for McCaffrey (67).

MEATH: A Colgan; S Lavin, C McGill, S Gallagher; J McEntee, D Keogan, R Ryan; B Menton, S McEntee; C O'Sullivan, B McMahon, G Reilly; B Brennan, J Conlon, M Newman. Subs: S Tobin for Brennan (38), E Devine for Reilly (40), T O'Reilly for Conlon (53), B Dardis S McEntee (58), S Curran for Gallagher (65), T McGovern for McMahon (65).

REF: S Hurson (Tyrone).

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ALL-IRELAND SFC GROUP 2 PHASE 1

SATURDAY, JULY 13: Croke Park

DUBLIN 5-18 CORK 1-17

SCORERS - Dublin: D Rock 0-5 (0-3f, 0-1 '45'), C Kilkenny 1-2, C O'Callaghan 0-4, B Fenton 1-1, J McCaffrey, MD Macauley, N Scully 1-0 each, P McMahon, P Mannion 0-2 each, C Costello, J Small 0-1 each. Cork: L Connolly 1-3 (1-0 pen, 0-1 '45'), P Kerrigan, B Hurley (0-1f) 0-3 each, M Hurley 0-2, K O’Driscoll, S White, R Deane, M Collins (0-1f), L O’Donovan, M Taylor 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; D Byrne, M Fitzsimons, P McMahon; J Small, C O’Sullivan, J McCaffrey; B Fenton, MD Macauley; N Scully, C Kilkenny, B Howard; P Mannion, C O’Callaghan, C Costello. Subs: D Rock for Costello (45), P Small for O’Callaghan (65), J Cooper for O’Sullivan (68), K McManamon for Mannion (68), E Murchan for McCaffrey (69), J McCarthy for Fenton (72).

CORK: M White; Thomas Clancy, K Flahive, J Loughrey; L Donovan, Tomás Clancy, M Taylor; I Maguire, K O’Driscoll; P Kerrigan, S White, R Deane; M Collins, B Hurley, L Connolly. Subs: M Hurley for Kerrigan (56), K O’Donovan for Loughrey (56), R O’Toole for S White (63), S Sherlock for Connolly (65), C Kiely for O’Donovan (66), J O’Rourke for Maguire (69).

REF: D Gough (Meath).

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ALL-IRELAND SFC QUARTER-FINAL GROUP 2 PHASE 2

SATURDAY, JULY 20: Croke Park

DUBLIN 2-26 ROSCOMMON 0-14

SCORERS – Dublin: D Rock 1-11 (0-10f), P Mannion, P Small 0-3 each, MD Macauley 1-0, C Kilkenny, C O’Callaghan, B Fenton 0-2 each, J McCaffrey, N Scully, K McManamon, 0-1 each. Roscommon: C Cox 0-7 (0-4f), C Hussey 0-3, S Mullooly, N Daly, C Compton, D Murtagh 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; J Cooper, P McMahon, M Fitzsimons; J McCaffrey, J McCarthy, J Small; B Fenton, MD Macauley; N Scully, C Kilkenny, B Howard; C O’Callaghan, P Mannion, D Rock. Subs: K McManamon for Kilkenny (38), P Small for Mannion (38), R O’Carroll for Fitzsimons (47), E Lowndes for McCaffrey (47), P Andrews for O’Callaghan (52), D Byrne for Macauley (bc, 63).

ROSCOMMON: D O’Malley; S Mulloly, D Murray, C Daly; R Daly, C Hussey, N Daly; E Smith, S Killoran; B Stack, C Cregg, N Kilroy; D Murtagh, C Cox, C Compton. Subs: F Cregg for Killoran (36), A Lyons for Compton (45), J McManus for C Cregg (47), A Glennon for Murtagh (52), G Patterson for Murray (60), C McKeon for Kilroy (66).

REF: B Cassidy (Derry).