Dublin seniors make it six-in-a-row as Under 20s are edged out
By Daire Walsh
There were mixed fortunes for Dublin’s footballers at Croke Park today.
Whereas the county’s senior outfit made it six All-Ireland championship titles on the bounce with a 2-14 to 0-15 victory at the expense of Mayo, Tom Gray’s U20 side fell short against Galway in their national decider - played as a curtain-raiser to the main event at GAA HQ.
Niall Scully of Dublin and Templeogue Synge Street with the Sam Maguire Cup following the Blues' triumph over Mayo at Croke Park tonight. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Niall Scully (Templeogue Synge Street) and Robbie McDaid (Ballyboden St Enda’s) featured from the start for the Metropolitan seniors, who enjoyed a whirlwind start against James Horan’s westerners.
Just 13 seconds were on the clock when Dean Rock palmed home a sweeping move for the fastest goal ever recorded in an All-Ireland final.
Mayo bounced back to lead by two points in the second-quarter but thanks in no small part to a green flag effort from Con O’Callaghan, the Blues brought a 2-6 to 0-10 cushion into the interval.
Dublin had a numerical disadvantage for the opening 10 minutes of the second period, after McDaid was issued with a black card just before half-time. In his absence, Scully found the target for the holders but Mayo were a single point in arrears (2-9 to 0-14) with just 15 minutes remaining in normal time.
Yet Dublin powered forward after the second half water break, outscoring their opponents 0-5 to 0-1 to remain on top of the Gaelic football ladder. Ballyboden attacker Colm Basquel was introduced off the bench in the closing stages, while his club-mate Michael Darragh Macauley and St Jude’s ace Kevin McManamon claimed their eighth All-Ireland titles as part of the match day squad.
Earlier in the same venue, Dublin suffered a one-point defeat (1-11 to 0-13) at the hands of Galway in a tense All-Ireland U20 showpiece.
There was plenty of local interest in this Sky Blues underage side, with Mark Lavin (Lucan Sarsfields) and Lorcan O’Dell (Templeogue Synge Street) contributing a combined tally of six points.
Thomas Davis’ Adam Waddick lined out at centre half-back and while Dublin fought to the bitter end, the Tribesmen had established a 1-9 to 0-6 cushion by the 37th-minute and remained in the ascendancy from that point onwards. This represented a second successive final defeat for Dublin, following their reversal to Cork in last year’s decider.
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