Pat Spillane and Eamonn O'Hara join Clare MacNamara to discuss an amazing All-Ireland final as Dublin made it three in a row.
Dublin Player Ratings
Endured the unusual torment of seeing six of his seven long kick-outs snaffled by opposition players in the first-half but normal service resumed after the interval and the skipper made a crucial save from Jason Doherty too.
Picked up Cillian O’Connor for a large swathe of the afternoon and the bite between these two continued all the way down the tunnel at the break. Whatever the pleasantries exchanged then, he found it harder to hold O’Connor down in the second period..
Had the unenviable task of keeping tabs on the irrepressible Andy Moran who bagged three points from play in a sterling first-half. Didn’t leak as much water in the second-half when injury hobbled the veteran corner-forward.
Picked up Jason Doherty who started quickly with two points from play but Cooper is a dogged and talented defender who came to the grips with the challenge facing him and he kept the Burrishoole forward much quieter from there on.
Dirtied his bib with his ill-discipline. Earned a yellow for a jersey pull off the ball and then lowered his shoulder dangerously into the chest of Colm Boyle which left the referee with no other option but to send him off.
Showed very well at times bringing the ball forward, which was no coincidence given he didn’t sit as deeply as he had in previous games when he spent much of his time in the full-back’s postcode. Quietly effective?
Hugely unfortunate for the medical student who missed last year’s campaign due to a gap year. Showed well early on with a few trademark lung-bursting before injury ended his day after just nine minutes.
Part of a midfield that struggled to gain the upperhand in the first-half when the O’Sheas and Tom Parsons swept up most of the possession, Fenton’s improved second-half showing was fairly typical of the manner in which Dublin grew into things.
Picked up - or, tried to pick up - a dynamic Aidan O’Shea in the opening half and his travails there were maybe symptomatic of Dublin’s early dealings. Had a much better time of it after the break and added two points from play to the tally.
Missed an early free and sent another short but landed everything from then on. Rock has been known chiefly as a free-taker but he contributed richly from open play and not just on the scoreboard. Excellent shift and showed 'cojones' at the finish.
A standout season, with the Cuala hurlers, Dublin U21 footballers and his time with the seniors, continued with a superbly taken goal in the opening minutes but found it difficult to make anything like that impact for the remainder.
The Castleknock man had 53 possessions against Monaghan, 62 against Tyrone, but his input was all but nullified on the day by Lee Keegan and it had a major effect on Dublin who were nothing like as fluent or effective as before.
Had Paddy Durcan for company from the off and took his time to get into the swing of things but worked through to contribute two points in the second-half. The second was all grit and aggression as he punched through along the end line. Dogged.
A surprise introduction, O’Gara almost played Paddy Andrews through for a goal with one hand pass but foundered for the most part up against Brendan Harrison. In fairness, he wasn’t the first to be wrapped up by the shoe-in All Star this summer.
Not his day. Called ashore at half-time, Andrews’ input was limited. Fouled for one of the frees Dean Rock landed but he was part of a Dublin forward line that managed just three points from play in the 35 minutes or so after O’Callaghan’s goal.
Paul Flynn (5) made an early entrance but never got to the pace of the game. Diarmuid Connolly (6) made more of an impact despite his obvious rustiness while Kevin McManamon (6) injected the expected pace. Bernard Brogan (5) found it hard to engineer space while Niall Scully and Cormac Costello weren’t on long enough to be rated.