Tyrone canter into semis as wasteful Dublin bow out

Dublin have exited the championship at the quarter-final stage for the second year running after Tyrone cantered away to victory following a combative second half display.

The result marks the end of Dessie Farrell's six-year reign as Dublin manager, the Na Fianna man confirming the news in an at times emotional press conference afterwards.

In a suffocating encounter, in which both teams were often guilty of sloppiness in possession, it was Tyrone's bench which eventually made the difference down the stretch.

After grimly holding onto a slender lead for most of the second half, a deuce of points from Ruairí Canavan, and further scores from Ben McDonnell and Under-20 star Eoin McElholm saw them surge home on a seven-point margin against a Dublin's side whose shooting efficiency collapsed to a remarkable degree in the second half.

It delivers Tyrone a first sem-final appearance since their smash-and-grab All-Ireland win in 2021 and it comes in the first year of Malachy O'Rourke's reign.

Padraig Hampsey celebrates winning a late free

The pre-match chatter was dominated by discussion of the availability of Con O'Callaghan. The Cuala star was excluded from the starting XV in Friday's released team though this is only a first draft and always subject to late change.

In previous eras, the absence of any Dublin forward, no matter how important, was considered no big deal as there was always plenty more where that came from. Not so in the mid-2020s.

In the end, he wasn't to start and didn't even participate in the pre-match warm-up.

Tyrone's form line had been incomprehensible to outsiders. Their win over Donegal in Ballybofey was their biggest in championship since the 2021 All-Ireland final.

But that was followed by a limp showing at home to a Mayo team who were admittedly high on desperation heading to Omagh. The handy victory over Cavan was of limited use as a bellwether.

The first half was a cagey affair, with Dublin largely having the better of the game in terms of possession and turnovers but with Tyrone making hay from two-point range.

2021 Footballer of the Year Kieran McGeary opened the scoring with a two-pointer after Darren McCurry tapped a short free in his direction. Three minutes later, another member of the half-back line, Peter Teague, got in on the act, curling over a two-point score after receiving a pass from Darragh Canavan.

However, Dublin, shooting into the Hill in the first half, were strong in the tackle zone in the first half, Cormac Costello's first two points from play coming respectively from a turnover and then loose passing in the Tyrone defence.

Tyrone were still turning their nose up at one-point hauls. Peter Harte, a late introduction before throw-in, swung over their third two-pointer inside the opening 10 minutes to leave it at 0-06 to 0-03.

Na Fianna corner forward Brian O'Leary responded with a quick brace of points, the first again coming after Tyrone were stripped of possession. Dublin mixed the direct with the methodical in their counters, with Niall Scully inclined to hit long ball into the full-forward line.

Goal chances were thin on the ground in the first half. Costello flashed an early shot wide of the posts, while Rory Brennan raided through the middle of the Dublin defence but his shot was repelled by Sean MacMahon's backside.

It was Scully who put Dublin in front for what turned out to be the only time of the game, making it 0-08 to 0-07 on 20 minutes but this lasted no longer than a play.

Harte found the space to respond with another two-point score, Tyrone's fourth of the half.

Costello and an otherwise subdued Darren McCurry traded frees before Killian McGinnis levelled it at 10-apiece after the half hour mark following a towering fetch from Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne in midfield.

Tyrone got the psychological filip of edging in front at half-time, partly thanks to a gift from Seán Bugler.

After the hooter sounded, the wing-forward shanked his point attempt horribly. The Tyrone defence seized on the loose ball, worked it upfield with the clock in the red, McCurry swinging over his only point from play

While O'Rourke's side held a slender lead at the break, their difficulty gaining and holding possession and their reliance on two-pointers - not likely to come as easily into the Hill 16 goal - didn't appear to bode well for the second half.

However, that didn't account for Dublin's toothlessness from two-point range. By the end of a ragged second half, even one-pointers were proving too much of an ask.

The early part of the second half gave 2024 vibes, as the quality of shooting deteroirated rapidly.

Paddy Small finally grabbed the first score of the half after 42 minutes, though Costello was furious he wasn't fed for a goal opportunity. The Whitehall Colmcille's player had dragged a goal attempt wide of the far post a couple of minutes earlier.

With Dublin frittering away chances at an alarming rate, Tyrone seized the moment and rattled over three points on the trot, through Darragh Canavan, Ciaran Daly and Cormac Quinn.

Tyrone had ratcheted up the intensity and workrate on the restart and were now the ones forcing turnovers and pressuring the ball-carrier.

Scully almost committed a cardinal sin under the new rules after Howard was bottled up in possession by a swarm of Tyrone forwards. As the ball hit the deck, the wing-forward swung a boot, sending the ball scuttling back towards Stephen Cluxton who couldn't pick it up.

The keeper was aware it was missing the target at least and allowed it run out of play, but Morgan strode forward to nail the resulting '45.

Darragh Canavan taps over a score

It was a mark of how things were going that O'Callaghan was sent for, the full-forward being introduced to a huge ovation at the 50th minute. He was on the scoreboard within a couple of minutes, throwing a defender with a shimmy and clipping over a point inside the far post from a tight angle.

However, that was the last he'd trouble the operators, with a few later efforts dropping short into Morgan's clutches.

The game remained a tit-for-tat until the closing 10 minutes, though Tyrone's workrate and phenomenal tackling was making life a struggle for the Dublin forwards.

Ciaran Kilkenny sauntered through the middle of the Tyrone defence after a needless foul from Harte to bring it back to a one-score game but Dublin just could not get level.

Substitute Lorcan Breathnach passed up a chance to do so after being fed by O'Callaghan, opting to fist across the square to Costello at the far post. Morgan easily read the danger and intercepted.

Bugler, the star of the league campaign but who endured a difficult evening, then had a glorious chance to tie it up but his shot from 21m clattered off the near post and wide.

On Hill 16, the air of foreboding was growing and Tyrone's younger brigade came to the fore.

McElholm, scorer of 2-04 in the Under-20 final, injected pace into a cumbersome move, burning his man to pop over a key score on 62 minutes.

After Breathnach brought it back to a point game, Morgan's kickout found Brian Kennedy, who perceptively tapped the ball down to the waiting Mattie Donnelly. The goal looked a possibility but he popped a pass to Ruairi Canavan who curled over a vital score to make it 18-16 with less than five minutes remaining.

The clock, now a big character in the game, was Tyrone's friend at this point.

When Ben O'Donnell fisted a point to make it three points with the clock past 67 minutes, the air of triumphalism was pervasive.

O'Callaghan dropped a point attempt short and Tyrone worked it up the pitch, Darragh Canavan tapping over one of his handiest scores of the game to as good as seal it.

With the hooter imminent, Canavan the younger added another and Morgan strode forward to put a further gloss on it by landing the only two-pointer of the half from a placed ball.

The Dubs were cooked long before that point. And Farrell confirmed the end of his reign afterwards, choking up in the press conference as he admitted it had been a privilege.

Tyrone, meanwhile, had made it a second Ulster team in the semis, with the possibility of a third tomorrow.

Dublin: Stephen Cluxton (0-01, 1 '45); Eoin Murchan, David Byrne, Seán MacMahon; Brian Howard, John Small, Lee Gannon; Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne, Killian McGinnis (0-01); Seán Bugler, Ciarán Kilkenny (0-01), Niall Scully (0-01); Paddy Small (0-02), Cormac Costello (0-06, 2f), Brian O'Leary (0-02).

Subs: Cian Murphy for McGinnis (43), Con O'Callaghan (0-01) for O'Leary (49), Luke Breathnach (0-01) for Scully (56), Tom Lahiff for O'Cofaigh Byrne (59), Ross McGarry for Bugler (65) Theo Clancy for Murchan (68)

Tyrone: Niall Morgan (0-03, 1tpf, 1 '45); Cormac Quinn (0-01), Padraig Hampsey, Niall Devlin; Peter Teague (0-02, 1tp), Rory Brennan, Kieran McGeary (0-02, 1tp); Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Seanie O'Donnell, Mattie Donnelly, Ciarán Daly (0-02); Darren McCurry (0-02, 1f), Peter Harte (0-04, 2tp), Darragh Canavan (0-03).

Subs: Michael O'Neill for O'Donnell (9, temp), Ben McDonnell (0-01) for Brennan (43), Eoin McElholm (0-01) for McCurry (50), Aidan Clarke for Quinn (55), Conor Meyler for Teague (58, temp), Ruairí Canavan (0-02) for Harte (62), Michael O'Neill for McGeary (67)

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