A full house turned up at Croke Park to witness what most thought would be a compelling All-Ireland semi-final involving Dublin and Tyrone.
After cruising through their championship games so far, the Ulster champions were expected to rattle the Dubs cage and snarl in their faces.
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To the disappointment of all who watched on, there was no contest at GAA HQ. Dublin easily nullified their opponents more or less from the off, playing the game on their terms while poking holes for fun in the Tyrone rearguard.
In the end, Jim Gavin's side were 12-point winners; it could have been so much more.
In his post-match summation of events, Joe Brolly did not mince his words when assessing the Tyrone effort.
"Once their primary system was destroyed, there wasn't anything else there"
On The Sunday Game Facebook live page, the Derryman said: "Tyrone were so rubbish, they stank the place, they just didn’t bring anything. They were static throughout the game.
"Yo have to have a go. Colm Cavanagh was the only one who threw himself about."
Earlier on The Sunday Game Live, Brolly, not for the first time, criticised the Ulster side's "rigid blanket defence".
Join Colm, Pat and @JoeBrolly1993 LIVE now on Facebookhttps://t.co/1p3y8b271I
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) August 27, 2017
On Dublin's penetration of that rearguard, the pundit added: "Dublin simply flooded it and hemmed Tyrone into their own half.
"Dublin turned Tyrone's strengths against them.
"It's good for the health of the game that they have been beaten. The last thing you want are copycats of that style of play. It's a horrific style of play. It's very defensive and demoralising and leads to very poor spectacles.
"Tyrone sit in a very rigid defensive formation. They offered nothing after Dublin went five or six points up.
Tyrone in the end were buzzing around like blue-arsed flies in a sunroom.
"Once their primary system was destroyed, there wasn't anything else there, there's no imagination, no initiative
"Tyrone bring nothing to the table."
"I never believed that Mickey (Harte) is a tactical genius" - Joe Brolly has his say pic.twitter.com/DnJLGndYKd
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) August 27, 2017
The 1993 All-Ireland winner also questioned Mickey Harte's ability as a coach.
"It was impossible for Tyrone to go man to man against Dublin.
"I have never believed that Mickey was a tactical genius. You hear that phrase been used. He oversees a one-dimensional gameplan that's very good against weak teams."
