In a thrilling finale of the Allianz National Football League, Derry snatched victory from defending champions Dublin in a penalty shoot-out, concluding in a 4-1 win for Derry. The match, which took place at the legendary Croke Park on Sunday, was filled with suspense and excitement right up to the last minute. Mickey Harte’s team, in fact, could have seized victory in both ordinary time and extra time, but clinched the win after a series of well-executed kicks from Shane McGuigan – his second in the game – Conor Glass, and Ethan Doherty. Dublin meanwhile could only manage one successful penalty from Paul Mannion, with both Con O’Callaghan and Tom Lahiff hitting the bar and post respectively.
As the match stretched into extra time, it was a last-minute goal from Dublin substitute Greg McEneaney that initially drew the game, setting the stage for a tense final. This was only made possible by a free from Con O’Callaghan in the final moment of injury-time, which gave rise to the additional period.
At the culmination of the ordinary time, both Brian Fenton and Paddy Small from Dublin were shown red cards.
Derry took the early lead, shaking the champions with a forceful commencement. This was underscored by the harsh interruption of Dublin’s first careful attack tactics. Undaunted, Dublin managed to claim the first two points of the match, however, it was Derry that continued to dominate, establishing a trifling lead as their aggressive half backs exerted influence. Despite Dublin’s comeback towards the end of the first quarter, Derry took comfort in a 0-5 to 1-3 advantage as the match proceeded into the second quarter.
The following few minutes saw a lull before the next score was registered. Lachlan Murray assumed he had levelled the score, but Hawk-Eye thought otherwise. Seán Bugler augmented the lead, however, Murray compensated with a point. McGinnis displayed a fantastic tackle to disenfranchise the threatening McGuigan. Cian Murphy impressed with his smooth shift of direction to earn a point while O’Callaghan secured a free post Chrissy McKaigue’s tackle. Derry concluded on a strong note, with Lachlan Murray scoring an equaliser briefly before the interval. Derry overlooked Dublin by a score of 0-10 to 1-7.
Third quarter session
The transformation of the game was witnessed in the third quarter session. Dublin initiated on a high note with points post the interval, but the real turnaround was Mickey Harte’s team securing two goals between the 40th and 44th minutes. Ethan Doherty fell to a tackle by Eoin Murchan, appearing initially as a clean tackle, but was later revealed as a push. An emphatic conversion by McGuigan followed it. In another move directly from a kick-out, Match’s Star McEvoy saw an opportunity and capitalised on it for a lead of 2-10 to 1-10. Dublin regrouped while Glass scored to push Derry ahead by two points. The third quarter ended with Derry leading by 2-12 to 1-13 over Dublin.
Fourth quarter session
The final quarter saw Glass scoring 45, and McEvoy expanding Derry’s lead to four. Even though Lynch found Murray for an offensive mark at the 61st minute – a point he successfully converted – they failed to score following this. In contrast, Dublin returned with points from substitutes Paddy Small, Sean McMahon, Ross McGarry, and finally an O’Callaghan free to venture into extra time. The quarter-final concluded with Derry leading by 2-15 to 1-18.
Extra time
Using substitutions to leverage the match, both Niall Toner and Killian O’Gara managed to keep the game neck-to-neck. The Ulster champions were in the lead by a point during mid-extra time, courtesy of Conor Doherty’s crucial score. As the game resumed, McEvoy managed to register his second goal, following an intricate pass from Cormac Murphy. Dublin, clearly under pressure, made a desperate attempt to score a goal from a 45 during the final moments. Eventually, the ball made its way to the square, where O’Callaghan directed it to McEneaney. Despite defence efforts, McEneaney’s strike managed to penetrate and score, though not for long enough. The game concluded with Derry leading 3-18, while Dublin scored 2-21, with penalties counted as four for Derry and one for Dublin.
The players for Derry included O Lynch; C McCluskey, C McKaigue, D Baker; C Doherty (0-1), E McEvoy (3-1), P McGrogan; C Glass (0-2, 1 ‘45′), B Rogers (0-1); E Doherty (0-1), C McFaul, P Cassidy (0-1); N Loughlin (0-2), S McGuigan (1-4, 1-0p, 0-2f), L Murray (0-3), with several substitutes brought in at different stages.
In Dublin, E Comerford was joined by C Murphy, who scored twice, E Murchan and S McMahon, who netted once. J Small, B Howard (1 goal), and T Lahiff (2 goals) were also present, along with B Fenton and K McGinnis who scored once. R McGarry added two goals. C Kilkenny, and S Bugler contributed a goal each, as did C Basquel (with an additional point), C O’Callaghan (Captain; five free kicks) and N Scully, with a single goal. Substitutes included P Mannion with a free kick goal in 53 minutes replacing McGinnis, L O’Dell for Scully at 57 minutes, P Small for Basquel at 57 minutes with one goal, K O’Gara with two goals replacing McGarry at 70 minutes, C O’Connor replacing McMahon at half-time during extra time, and finally G McEneaney replacing Bugler with a single goal at 87 minutes. The game was refereed by C Lane, from Cork.