Mulligan sends Tyrone into semi against Armagh
Tyrone 2-18 Dublin 1-14
Tyrone blasted their way into the All-Ireland SFC final with an explosive attacking performance at Croke Park.
A sensational 1-7 tally from Owen Mulligan was the highlight of a seven points win which sets up a third clash of the season against Ulster rivals Armagh.
There was no wonder goal this time around, but Owen Mulligan turned in another jaw-dropping performance.
Mulligan did find the net again as the Dubs were put to the sword, but this time he also laid on an exhibition of points scoring that even had the Hill 16 faithful drooling.
A 1-7 tally from the Cookstown sizzler did most of the damage.
He had the Dublin defence shaking with fright every time he got the ball, and dovetailed superbly with strike partner Stephen O'Neill, who this time lived in his shadow, returning a mere 1-3.
Tyrone were a potent attacking force right from the outset, and when Owen Mulligan won the penalty which Stephen O'Neill blasted to the net, they led by 1-3 to 0-2 with just six minutes played.
A frenetic opening six minutes produced a rash of scores, and it was clear that the Dublin defence was unable to cope with the twin threat of Mulligan and O'Neill.
Mulligan swept over a couple of gems, and despite sharing the midfield spoils, Dublin just couldn't break down a well organised Tyrone defence, in which Conor Gormley and Ryan McMenamin were outstanding.
He did pull back a point through Conal Keaney and Alan Brogan, and when Keaney landed a long range effort in the 16th minute, just a goal separated the sides.
But the Red Hands took over in the final 10 minutes of the half, with scores from McGuigan and two vintage O'Neill efforts to lead by 1-9 to 0-5 at the break.
The Dubs staged a rousing revival, with Ciaran Whelan coming into his own at midifeld and Shane Ryan pressing forward with conviction.
And points trom Jason Sherlock, Tomas Quinn and Conal Keaney brought them to within a goal.
But all their good work was undone when Sean Cavanagh intercepted a short kick-out meant for Declan Lally and slipped inside to Mulligan, who buried to the net in the 50th minute.
Now the lead was back to a more comfortable six points, and Tyrone were firmly back in the groove when Cavanagh finished a flowing move with a fisted point.
Keaney sent a screamer crashing against the angle of the goal frame at the other end, but it was Tyrone who were making it count, with O'Neill and Mulligan both knocking over frees and Ryan Mellon hitting two from play as the gap grew to 10.
Dessie Farrell pulled back a Dublin goal just after coming in as a sub, but the last word, fittingly was left to Mulligan, who hammered in the final nail from a free.
Tyrone: P McConnell; R McMenamin, C Lawn, M McGee; D Harte, C Gormley, P Jordan; E McGinley, J McMahon, B Dooher (0-3), B McGuigan (0-1), S Cavanagh (0-2), R Mellon (0-2), S O'Neill (1-3, 1 pen,1 free, O Mulligan (1-7, 2 frees).
Subs; S Sweeney for Lawn, B Meenan for Sweeney, E Bradley for Magee, P Donnelly for McGinley
Dublin: S Cluxton, P Griffin, S O'Shaughnessy, P Andrews, S Ryan (0-1), B Cahill, P Casey, C Whelan, D Magee, C Moran (0-1), A Brogan (0-2), B Cullen (0-1), J Sherlock (0-1), C Keaney (0-4, 1 free), T Quinn (0-3, 2 frees.
Subs: S Connell (0-1) for Brogan, D Lally for Magee, M Vaughan for Quinn, D O'Callaghan for Lally, D Farrell (1-0) for Keaney
Referee: Gearoid O Conamha (Galway)
