Derry 0-17 Dublin 0-14
Derry advanced to the final of the Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor football championship following this impressive three point victory over Dublin at Croke Park.
With the contest delicately poised entering the final quarter, Dublin were made to pay for their earlier profligacy as their opponents punished their defensive indiscretions with critical late points from frees.
The Ulster champions started off brightly, despite falling behind to an early Ross McGarry point, and two Patrick Quigg scores were just reward for their initial control of matters.
A David Lacey free restored parity for Dublin by the eighth minute but Derry were dominating the aerial exchanges in the opening quarter and pulled three points to the good following successive scores from Quigg, Lorcan McWilliams and Mark McGrogan.
James Doran proved Dublin's key attacker throughout and his runs from deep began to stretch the Derry defence as Dublin began to claw back their deficit.
Resurgence
A Ben McCarron point briefly stalled Dublin’s resurgence but they regained the initiative and kicked three points in succession through Doran, Lacey and McGarry to inch a point clear.
A Quigg free restored parity for a less vibrant Derry side and Dublin regained the lead by the interval as Lacey fired over from 15 metres with McGarry having been denied by Oran Hartin two minutes previously.
Dublin began the second-half with a degree of authority but managed to kick three wides inside the opening 90 seconds as they wasted the chance to put daylight between the teams.
While they managed to add scores through Sean Hawkshaw and Doran in response to a Lorcan McWilliams point, it felt inadequate given the incisions they were making at regular intervals.
And so it proved, as Derry levelled matters by the 37th minute following scores by Oisin McWilliams and Lorcan McWilliams with the Dubs responding in kind through Doran, almost inevitably, and Lacey.
However, Derry began to play with a greater sense of control around the third quarter mark and they made a decisive move with four unanswered points by Lorcan McWilliams, McCarron and Richie Mullan.
Another classy Doran point kept Dublin close at hand but with their defence coming under more sustained pressure, they began to leak frees which McWilliams and McCarron ensured would prove decisive by the final whistle.
Derry: O Hartin; S McKeever, C McCluskey, O McGill; S McErlain, P McGrogan, C McShane; O McWilliams (0-1), D Rafferty; P Quigg (0-4, three frees), R Mullan (0-1), O Quinn; B McCarron (0-3, two frees), L McWilliams (0-6, five frees), M McGrogan (0-1). Subs: F Mortimer for Rafferty (30), C Brown for Quinn (33), D Cassidy for Quigg (36), M Bradley for McErlain (56), JP Devlin (0-1) for McCarron (59), T McHugh for O McWilliams (64).
Dublin: D O'Hanlon; D Maher, P Ó Cofaigh Byrne, L Flatman; K Kennedy, N Matthews, E O'Dea; D Ryan, M Tracey; D Brennan, J Doran (0-6), K Lynch Bissett; D Lacey (0-5, four frees), S Hawkshaw (0-1), R McGarry (0-2). Subs: F O'Sullivan for Brennan (40), C Archer for Hawkshaw (47), G Nangle for Ó Cofaigh Byrne (52), A Byrne for Lynch Bissett (59), L Doran for Maher (62), N O'Leary for Kennedy (65, Black Card).
Referee: Seán Lonergan (Tipperary)
