Dublin sent Tyrone crashing through the Allianz National Football League Division 1 trapdoor with a convincing victory at Healy Park.
Pat Gilroy’s men tore the Red Hand defence to shreds in the first half to lay the foundations for a celebrated win.
Bernard Brogan was the star of the show with an eight points tally and two goal-assists, but this six-point success wasn’t enough to earn the Dubs a place in the Division One final.
Mickey Harte’s 140th game in charge of Tyrone ended in bitter disappointment, and he faces a big task in lifting his players ahead of the Ulster Senior Football Championship clash with Antrim, while Gilroy’s men will approach their Leinster Championship clash with Wexford on 13 June in buoyant mood.
Tyrone’s positive start gave their sun-splashed supporters false hope, with Sean Cavanagh and Kyle Coney easing them into an early lead.
Soon, the Dubs were in their stride, and Bernard Brogan was beginning to cause serious problems and inflict substantial damage.
Every time he seized possession of the ball, the umpire at the town end was reaching for his white flag, as the ball flew off the left boot of the St Oliver Plunketts attacker, who scored seven times in the opening half.
There was little to encourage Tyrone fans in the 10,000 strong crowd, their approach work stilted and hesitant, their finishing, for the most part, poor.
Cavanagh did convert three frees and Coney landed a couple of excellent scores, but they found it difficult to break down a packed Dublin defence, and the Leinster men were able to break swiftly and craft scores.
It was Bernard Brogan who dispossessed Aidan Cassdiy to set up the opening goal in the 32nd minute for his brother Alan, who had come in as a sub four minutes earlier.
The Brogan brothers combined for Niall Corkery to blast a second to the top corner of the net on 36 minutes, and the rampant Dubs led by 2-10 to 0-07 at the break.
Tyrone started the second half with a flourish, and plundered a goal after just 20 seconds, Colm Cavanagh finishing to the net after Martin Penrose had dispossessed goalkeeper Michael Savage.
They tagged on points through Sean Cavanagh and the impressive Peter Harte, but failed to keep the momentum going.
The Leinster men regrouped, and points from David Henry and the Brogan brothers made it a seven points game.
Henry was sent off on a second yellow card seven minutes from the end, but Dublin were never going to be denied.
Tyrone: J Curran, D Carlin, Joe McMahon, R McMenamin, D Harte, C Gormley, P Jordan, A Cassidy, C Cavanagh (1-00), K Coney (0-02), B McGuigan (0-01), P Harte (0-01), M Penrose (0-01), S Cavanagh (0-05, 3f), M Donnelly.
Subs: C McCarron for Mcmahon, K Hughes (0-01) for Donnelly, R Mellon for McGuigan, S O’Neill for D Harte, N McKenna for Coney
Dublin: M Savage, P Conlon, R O’Carroll, P Casey, P McMahon, D Bastick, C O’Sullivan,E Fennell (0-01), R McConnell, D Henry (0-01), N Corkery (1-00), P Flynn, A Hubbard, K McManamon (0-02), B Brogan (0-08, 2f).
Subs: M McAuley (0-01) for McConnell, A Brogan (1-01) for Hubbard, B Cahill for Bastick, D Connolly for Flynn, E O’Gara for McAuley.
Referee: D Fahy (Longford).
