Bench bounce: Who's come on and made the difference when Kerry met Dublin in finals?

With all the talk of substitute impact being decisive in Sunday's All-Ireland final, who's had the better bench bounce when Kerry and Dublin have met in previous Croke Park deciders?

KINGDOM SLAYER: Kevin McManamon scores the dramatic, and decisive, Dublin goal to edge the epic All-Ireland SFC semi-final in 2-13. When it comes to finals, Kerry have had slightly more impact from their subs. 

An injury to Tom Moriarty early in the 1955 All-Ireland SFC final saw John Joe Sheehan enter the fray and by games end had become an influential figure, taking on the centre half role to effect and landing a crucial point in Kerry’s surprise triumph over the ‘Dublin machine’. Twenty years on, you could say history repeated itself, an injury to Kerry captain Micky ‘Ned’ O’Sullivan seeing Ger O’Driscoll entering the fray and by game's end had become an influential figure as well as landing a crucial goal in Kerry’s surprise win over ‘Heffos Army’.

Kevin McManamon, Dublin’s super-sub, has been sprung for the bench in three Dublin v Kerry final fixtures, scoring a vital goal in the 2011 final. In the 11 finals contested since 1955 (including the ’19 replay) Kerry subs have scored 2-8, Dublin’s 2-4.

Kerry’s Subs in All-Ireland finals v Dublin 1955-2019.

1955: John Joe Sheehan 0-1 {for T Moriarty)

1975: Ger O’Driscoll 1-0 {for M O’Sullivan}

1976: Charlie Nelligan {for P O’Mahony}, Ger O’Driscoll {for M O’Sullivan}

1978: Paudie O’Mahony for J Deenihan

1979: Vincent O’Connor {for J O’Keeffe}

1984: Timmy O’Dowd (for J Egan)

1985: John Kennedy 0-1 (for G Power)

2011: Daniel Bohan (for E Brosnan) Barry John Keane (for D Walsh), Paul Galvin 0-1 )for K O’Leary)

2015: Darran O’Sullivan 0-2 (for S O’Brien), Bryan Sheehan 0-1 f )for J Buckley), Kieran Donaghy {for P Geaney}. Paul Murphy {for A O’Mahony), Paul Galvin {for D Moran}, Barry John Keane {for J O’Donoghue}

2019: Killian Spillane 1-1 (for A Spillane}, Jack Sherwood {for G White}, Tommy Walsh 0-1 {for B O Beaglaoich}, Jonathan Lyne {for G Crowley}, Dara Moynihan {for J Barry}, Mark Griffin {for S O’Brien).

2019 Replay: Gavin White (for A Spillane), Jack Sherwood {for B O Beaglaoich}, Tommy Walsh {for D O’Connor}, Killian Spillane {for P Murphy}, James O’Donoghue {for J Barry}, Dara Moynihan {for G Crowley).

Total scores: 2-8

Dublin’s Subs in All-Ireland finals v Kerry 1955-2019 .

1955: Terry Jennings {for J McGuinness}, W Monks {for T Jennings)

1975: Bobby Doyle 0-1 {for B Brogan}, Pat O’Neill {for J McCarthy}, Brendan Pocock 0-1 {for P O’Reilly).

1976: Fran Ryder {for T Hanahoe}, Pat Gogarty {for B Doyle).

1978: None 1979: Jim Ronayne 1-0 {for M Hickey}, Gay O’Driscoll {for A O’Toole).

1984: Maurice O’Callaghan {for J McNally}, Ciaran Sutton {for J Ronayne).

1985: Tommy Carr 0-1 {for C Redmond}, PJ Buckley {for B Mullins).

2011: Philly McMahon {for J McCarthy}, Kevin McManamon 1-0 {for P Flynn}, Eoghan O’Gara {for B Cahill} E Fennell {for D Bastick).

2015: Kevin McManamon {for D Rock},Michael Darragh McAuley {for D Basick}, Johnny Cooper {for M Fitzsimons}, Johnny Small {for J McCaffrey}, Darren Daly {for C O’Sullivan}, Alan Brogan 0-1 {for B Fenton).

2019: Paddy Small (for MD McAuley), Eoin Murchan for J Small (blood 57-ft), Diarmuid Connolly (for B Howard), Cormac Costello (for P Mannion), Kevin McManamon (for N Scully).

2019 Replay: Diarmuid Connolly {for J McCaffrey}, Philly McMahon {for E Murchan}, Kevin McManamon {for P Mannion}, Michael Darragh McAuley {for B Howard).

Subs scored 2-4.