Galway ... 0-15 Dublin ... 0-7 Galway brought the All-Ireland season to a close in Portlaoise yesterday with the county's second under-21 football title and their first since 1972. An estimated crowd of 20,000 was one of the biggest to have attended an under-21 football final, but, sadly, that was simply to guarantee exposure to what was surely one of the least competitive finals in the championship's history.
Dublin never got out of the traps, and a slick, inventive Galway took full advantage. Their forwards kicked some magnificent points and their defence was quick and decisive. But the main impetus came from centrefield, where Galway captain Joe Bergin and Kieran Comer dominated the exchanges, leaving Dublin's forwards to survive on scraps.
The Leinster champions had a bad start when it was announced captain Barry Cahill was unable to field, having suffered neck spasms for the previous 24 hours.
At no stage did the team threaten in his absence. And once a 10th-minute opportunity to apply a tourniquet to their fatal wounds came to nothing, when David Morris saved from Declan Lally and Tomás Quinn's chip at the rebound was intercepted on the line by Richard Murray, the sense of doom was palpable.
From the moment Michael Meehan landed a strident opening point, Galway's threat was obvious. The attacking strategy was as expected. Meehan and Nicholas Joyce played a two-man full-forward line with Derry O'Brien dropping out to the wing and John Devane staying deep.
Matt Clancy started in his usual centre forward slot and quickly began to pose the sort of problems that had caused Kerry such bother in the semi-final. His pace and willingness to take on the defence set alarms clanging every time he got on the ball.
This threat from deep - Clancy made and scored two points and Bergin kicked two - accounted for four of Galway's first five points. By the end of the first quarter they led by 0-5 to nil, and that margin could have been stretched to eight instead of six when O'Brien took a point with the goal a possibility.
Strange as it may seem, Dublin weren't without performers in defence. Nathan Kane in the full back line had a really good match, doing fire brigade duty as inviting ball rained down in his sector. Twice in successive minutes - 15th and 16th - he averted goal danger from Joyce and Meehan.
One area in which neither side showed well was that of place-kicking. Meehan and Quinn missed easy frees, including the latter's 25-metre award just to the right of the posts, which would have got Dublin to two points before half-time.
Instead the interval lead was 0-8 to 0-1. It could have been worse for Dublin had Clancy's ball into Joyce just before half-time not been over-hit, allowing Stephen Cluxton a chance to clear the danger.
There didn't appear to be much Dublin could do to revive their prospects. They were being outplayed all over the pitch. Whatever promise they managed to exhibit was quickly snuffed out by some astute reshuffling by John O'Mahony on the line. For instance, a brief period of ascendancy by Alan Brogan ended with Micheál Comer's switch from right corner back.
It also took Dublin too long to switch Darren Magee onto Bergin, who was the dominant figure during the phase when Galway made crucial headway. Even then his influence remained strong, with Comer's intelligent use of possession also a feature of the winners' centrefield.
Dublin made it worse for themselves by distributing carelessly. Too often kick-outs went straight to Galway players or hard-won possession at the back was simply given straight back.
The second half started as the first had concluded. Comer's free pushed the margin to eight. A goal chance for Dublin was denied when Diarmuid Blake took a brave catch on his line from a dropping Quinn free before being fouled.
Dublin's best phase - if we can call it that - came after a few substitutions early in the second half.
Three unanswered points cut the deficit to five, 0-4 to 0-9, but there was no suggestion that a comeback was on the cards. A typically authoritative point by Bergin as the match entered its final quarter underlined that.
Scores were swapped more competitively in what was a better second half, but Galway's superiority never looked at risk. To emphasise it, they swept over a succession of classy points - including two from Meehan who ended the day top scorer and who, incredibly, is 17 and only a couple of weeks too old to be a minor again next year.
John O'Mahony's intention to manage the Galway seniors for a further three years looks as characteristically well reasoned as any footballing decision he has made.
GALWAY: 1. D Morris; 2. M Comer, 3. K Fitzgerald, 4. R Murray; 5. K Brady, 6. D Blake, 7. C Monaghan; 8. J Bergin (capt; 0-3), 9. K Comer (0-2); 12. D Burke, 10. M Clancy (0-2), 14. D O'Brien (0-2); 13. M Meehan (0-5, one free), 15. N Joyce (0-1), 11. J Devane. Subs: 19. D Hanley for Burke (40 mins), 20. R O'Hara for O'Brien (72 mins).
DUBLIN: 1. S Cluxton; 3. D Corcoran, 2. N Kane, 4. P Griffin; 5. P Casey, 6. B Cullen, 18. N O'Driscoll; 8. D Magee, 9. C Murphy; 10. L Og O hEineachain (0-1), 11. C Keaney, 12. D Lally; 13. A Brogan (0-2), 14. G Cullen, 15. T Quinn (0-2, one 45, one free). Subs: 22. D O'Callaghan for Keaney (36 mins), 24. D O'Mahony (0-1) for G Cullen (37 mins), 20. S Walsh for Corcoran (40 mins), 21. M Lyons for Lally (49 mins), 23. G Smith (0-1) for Murphy (52 mins).
Referee: M McGrath (Donegal).
