1 Shane Ryan
Of his 24 kick-outs, Kerry retained 21 and lost three, an 87 per cent return. He also offered Kerry an outlet as an overload when driving down the field and couldn’t be faulted for Dublin’s second-half goal, with Paddy Small’s shot taking a deflection. Rating: 7
2 Graham O’Sullivan
It was no huge surprise that Ciarán Kilkenny started the game for Dublin and O’Sullivan dealt adequately with the late Dublin change. He was handed the detail of curtailing the Castleknock playmaker and largely prevented Kilkenny from influencing the game as he might have liked. Rating: 7
3 Jason Foley
Picked up Paul Mannion for the most part and the Kilmacud forward was dangerous throughout, finishing the game with 0-5, four from play. Foley did make an outstanding interception in the last minute of normal time on Con O’Callaghan, which in the moment felt like a massive play. Rating: 6
4 Tom O’Sullivan
Marked Cormac Costello and largely frustrated the in-form Dublin forward, who was hauled ashore during the second half having failed to score from play. Defensively solid but wasn’t as accurate with his kicking as we have come to expect. Rating: 7
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5 Paul Murphy
Murphy dropped to the full-back line from the start and followed Colm Basquel. Worked hard and helped organise a strong defensive display until he was taken off just before the hour mark having emptied himself for the cause. Rating: 6
6 Tadhg Morley
With Con O’Callaghan starting at centre forward, Morley kept tabs on the Dublin danger man. Stood O’Callaghan up well in the 27th minute and forced an uncharacteristic wide from the Cuala clubman as he mistimed a dummy solo because of Morley’s pressure. Rating: 7
7 Gavin White
His mistake for Paddy Small’s goal was a key moment in the game. His attempted pass was blocked by Colm Basquel and immediately Dublin were through on goal. Basquel fed Small and despite a valiant diving block by Paul Murphy, the shot ricocheted to the Kerry net, 1-8 apiece. Rating: 6
8 Diarmuid O’Connor
O’Connor was a constant outlet for his colleagues and worked his socks off in the middle of the field. He was up against James McCarthy for the afternoon and the Dublin captain was not as effective here as he has been for most of the season. Rating: 7
9 Jack Barry
Was up against Fenton in the middle of the field and his direct opponent started to orchestrate matters as the game went on. Barry won a big kick-out moments after Colm Basquel’s 54th-minute point. Rating: 7
10 Dara Moynihan
The hard-working Moynihan had a tough afternoon, which was capped by a wild shot just before the break. He did continue to fight and battle for possession in the middle third but didn’t offer enough of a threat going forward and was taken off in the 58th minute. Rating: 5
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11 Seán O’Shea
Aside from a very difficult effort out under the Hogan Stand sideline, O’Shea was accurate from placed balls throughout and acted as a decent link in the chain of the Kerry attack for most of the match, though only chipped in with one point from open play. Rating: 7
12 Stephen O’Brien
O’Brien’s impressive showing off the bench in the semi-final earned him a starting role and he hit the ground running with an all-action display from the off. He was involved in a huge amount of play, winning frees and turnovers that led to Kerry scores. Rating: 7
13 Paudie Clifford
He was busy in the first half but Paudie really stood up in the third quarter of the game when he scored three points from play. At various times during the encounter he found himself battling against either Eoin Murchan or John Small. Rating: 7
14 David Clifford
His pass for Paul Geaney’s goal was a thing of absolute beauty, but the talking point of Clifford’s performance will focus on a misfiring afternoon in front of the posts, which included four wides and one dropping short. Rating: 6
15 Paul Geaney
Geaney had an early ground shot cleared off the line by Brian Howard and also hit a wide in the first half, but he showed good composure and experience to tuck away his goal just before the break. Sold Lee Gannon a nice dummy in the second half before popping over a point. Rating: 7
Subs
Killian Spillane added some punch to the Kerry attack when introduced and chipped in with a point. Micheál Burns also made a good block on Colm Basquel in injury-time but in general the Dublin bench had a bigger impact on the outcome than Kerry’s subs. Rating 6
Manager
Jack O’Connor’s decision to start Stephen O’Brien paid off with the display he delivered, while the match-ups in the Kerry defence largely worked out okay for the Kingdom. O’Connor did introduce fresh legs during the second half, but a game of high tension was won in the dying seconds. Rating: 7
