Donegal and Dublin draw after mystifying final free

Donegal 2-5 Dublin 1-8: No harm to either team’s unbeaten records, but no foul, either — how Ciaran Branagan felt Donegal had earned a last-gasp free to tie this game was mystifying.

A draw might have been a fair result, but the end didn’t justify the decision. Dublin had to settle for a share of the spoils against Ulster opposition for the second round running. Dublin won’t be too bothered. Their unbeaten run, across league and championship, was stretched to 32 games, and by next Saturday’s game, at home to Mayo, it will have been extended to two years. With Niall Scully’s 54th-minute strike, Dublin also scored their first goal from open play since Paul Mannion’s effort in the All-Ireland quarter-final win over Donegal, last year, breaking a barren spell of 450 minutes.

On that occasion, Ryan McHugh found the net against Dublin, as he did in the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final. He did so again here, scoring the second of two goals inside 60 seconds towards the end of the first-half.