Shane Stapleton rates the Dublin players out of ten after their All-Ireland final win over Mayo.
Shane Stapleton rates the Dublin players out of ten after their All-Ireland final win over Mayo.
Dublin
Stephen Cluxton — 7
Dealt with everything that came his way, always available to take possession, and calm throughout.
Michael Fitzsimons — 8
All the talk both during and after the game was of the huge hit on Lee Keegan. It certainly should have been a free and perhaps a card, but Fitzsimons was given the benefit of the doubt by the referee.
Davy Byrne — 9
An excellent performance from the St Olaf’s man, who drove his team out from the back.
Jonny Cooper — 7
Might well have got a black card in the first half but rode his luck. Decent outing.
Eoin Murchan — 8
Motored well all game and has really settled into the Dublin defence.
John Small — 7
Measured performance from the Ballymun player, who knocked over a point on 32 minutes after bursting past Tommy Conroy.
Robbie McDaid — 7
Black-carded at the end of the first half but it didn’t prove to be costly. A good final capping off a great season.
Brian Fenton — 8
Really excelled as the game wore on. Hit a fine point in the 42nd minute.
James McCarthy — 7
Rose like a salmon and ran like a hare to collect the throw-in and set up Dean Rock for the opening goal.
Niall Scully — 7
Controlled performance from the Templeogue player, who nabbed himself a point after the break.
Ciaran Kilkenny — 8
Scored three points and stepped up when required.
Sean Bugler — 5
A quiet final for the man from Plunkett’s.
Paddy Small — 5
Didn’t happen for Small, and manager Dessie Farrell made a switch with 20 minutes to go.
Con O’Callaghan — 7
Brilliantly worked and finished his goal in the first half, and knocked over a nice point with his left.
Dean Rock — 6
Finished his goal brilliantly and added some nice frees, but didn’t feature too heavily.
Subs
Brian Howard for Bugler (ht) — 9
As Diarmuid Connolly did in 2017 against Mayo, Howard was the game-changer here.
Paul Mannion for P Small (51) — 5
Hit over a free but had a wild wide and didn’t quite get into it.
Collie Basquel for Cooper (54) — 7
Ran hard when he came on.
Cormac Costello for Scully (70) — NR
Philly McMahon for Murchan (75) — NR
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