Dublin and Tyrone victorious in Croke Park – Allianz Leagues Roundup

Dublin secured their fourth straight Allianz National league Division 1 title today while Tyrone clinched the Division 2 title with a victory over Cavan.

Dublin 2-18 Kerry 0-13

All Ireland champions Dublin capitalized on Kerry’s mistakes to win the Division 1 title. In both the first and second half Dublin were first on the score board. For the opening 35 minutes Kerry and Dublin remained on level score for the majority of the half, it was not until the closing minutes of the half that Dublin took a two point lead, 0-10 to 0-08 at the interval.Within twenty seconds of the restart Dublin had a three point lead thanks to Diarmuid Connolly. Next came a crucial decision that altered the course of the match. With 51 minutes played Kerry’s Aidan O’Mahony was given a straight red card for an off the ball incident with Johnny Cooper.

Despite being reduced to 14 men Kerry rallied to within a point of the Dubs. All this hard work was undone when Kerry goalkeeper Brendan Kealy’s kick-out fell straight to Paul Flynn who fired past Kealy making it 1-17 to 13 points. Kerry’s slim hopes were crushed. The Kingdom were rattled by Kealy’s rookie mistake and in injury time Marc O’Se lost possession close to goal which allowed substitute Eric Lowndes to score Dublin’s second goal. The scoreline flatters a Dublin side who were pushed all the way by a brave Kerry side. Peter Crowley and Paul Murphy displayed great courage in the Kerry defence and no doubt Aidan O’Mahony will rue his red card incident. Colm Cooper will also curse one of his first half free kicks that dropped short of the goal. Dublin cruised to victory today and look like a formidable force in this year’s Championship.

Tyrone 1-17 Cavan 0-15

Mickey Heart’s Tyrone side saw off a courageous Cavan side in the Division 2 decider today 1-17 to 0-15 the winning score. Connor McAliskey and Ronan O’Neill led the scoring for Tyrone today with McAliskey hitting five points while O’Neill’s 49th minute goal put The Red Hand County six points clear.Tyrone were dominant today and took a deserved 0-11 to 0-08 lead into the interval. O’Neill’s goal in the second half put Tyrone 1-13 to 0-10 clear and despite Cavan picking up the odd point Tyrone had a little more in the tank and sealed the victory by a 5 point margin. Tyrone will head into their Championship opener with Derry in a month’s time full of confidence and are likely to be involved come the end of the Summer.