As the 2018 All-Ireland football championship comes to a close, Dublin remain in possession of the Sam Maguire cup for a fourth successive year. Despite an initial scare as Tyrone raced out to a 0-5 to 0-1 lead, Jim Gavin's men demonstrated their resilience and never truly looked like they would be caught.
In the end, a 2-17 to 1-14 scoreline encapsulated the arm's length Dublin kept Tyrone at once they had established a suitably sizable lead.
Taking a look at the year as a whole, the analysts of Sky Sports got to handing out their own awards for the individuals from this year's championship who stood out. Between Jim McGuinness, James Horan, Senan Connell and Peter Canavan, little by way of a unanimous decision could be wrought from their discussion about who deserved to be the Footballer of the Year.
However, when it came to determining the Young Footballer of the Year, all four believed Kerry's David Clifford had done more than enough to deserve the accolade. With the exception of Canavan's suggestion that Dublin's Brian Howard could be seen as a potential recipient, it seems the Kerry corner-forward has done more than enough in what was a difficult year for the county.
When it came down to Footballer of the Year, McGuinness, Horan, Connell and Canavan were a little less certain about who specifically deserved the award; although the same names kept cropping up.
Between McGuinness and Connell, it was a toss up between two All-Ireland winners with Dublin, Ciaran Kilkenny and Brian Fenton. For the former Mayo manager James Horan, his selection for the award was the hugely popular Jack McCaffrey:
I just think Jack McCaffrey has been electric when Dublin have needed electricity. Even today, he was the go-to man on some kick-outs when there was a little bit of pressure.
His acceleration is just off the charts, and when he gets the ball or the ball is near him, the whole stadium lifts.
Looking at the year as a whole, Tyrone's Peter Canavan believes it would have to be Kilkenny, too. However, had he had something of a more imposing game today, Canavan believes Howard could have also been in the discussion for the main award.
