Ireland 3-11-5 (56)
Australia 1-13-7 (52)

Ireland weathered a second half Australian storm to reclaim the Cormac McAnallen Cup at Croke Park this evening.

Goals from Aidan O'Shea (2) and Conor McManus helped establish a 20 point lead for Joe Kernan's men at the halfway stage but the tourists came out fighting during the third and fourth quarters.

Buoyed by Eddie Betts' fourth quarter goal, the tourists narrowed the gap to just three points approaching the full-time hooter but captain Bernard Brogan calmed the home side's nerves with a 'behind' right at the end.

An attendance of 38,386 showed up at GAA headquarters for the latest installment of the hybrid game and the Irish were aiming to make amends for last year's 10 point loss 'Down Under'.

They were quick out of the traps with O'Shea, McManus and Brogan causing all sorts of problems for the Aussies' rearguard.

O'Shea found the back of the Australian net for the first time in the 4th minute and the team in green and white held a 21-13 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.

He added a second during the second quarter while McManus converted a penalty following a foul on Patrick McBrearty to leave the scoreboard reading 43-23 in Ireland's favour at the half-time interval.

As you would expect, the Aussies refused to throw in the towel and they outscored Ireland by 16 points to seven during the third quarter to cut the deficit to 11 points.

The fourth quarter followed a similar pattern with Betts' goal and a Robbie Gray over setting up a tense finale but Ireland had just about enough in reserve to hold on for the victory.

Ireland - B Brogan (Dublin) (0-4-1), N Morgan (Tyrone), C Begley (Laois), G Brennan (Clare), E Cadogan (Cork), M Donnelly (Tyrone), E Doyle (Kildare), P Harte (Tyrone), D Hughes (Monaghan) (0-1-0), L Keegan (Mayo) (0-1-0), P Kerrigan (Cork) (0-0-1), J McCaffrey (Dublin), C McDonald (Tipperary), P McMahon (Dublin), C McManus (Monaghan) (1-3-2), R O'Carroll (Dublin), J O'Loughlin (Laois), A O'Shea (Mayo) (2-1-0), M Quinn (Longford), D Walsh (Kerry), D Connolly (Dublin) (0-1-1), P Cribbin (Kildare), P McBrearty (Donegal).

Australia - L Hodge (Hawthorn), D Fletcher (Essendon), H Ballantyne (Fremantle) (0-1-0), E Betts (Adelaide) (1-2-2), G Birchall (Hawthorn), L Breust (Hawthorn) (0-1-1), P Dangerfield (Geelong), A Gaff (West Coast), B Goddard (Essendon), R Gray (Port Adelaide) (0-3-1), D Heppell (Essendon), S Mitchell (Hawthorn), L Montagna (St Kilda) (0-1-0), D Mundy (Fremantle) (0-1-0), R Murphy (Western Bulldogs), N Riewoldt (St Kilda) (0-3-1), T Rockliff (Brisbane Lions) (0-0-1), J Roughead (Hawthorn) (0-1-0), N Smith (Sydney Swans), J Stringer (Western Bulldogs) (0-0-1), H Taylor (Geelong), E Wood (Western Bulldogs).

Referees - J McQuillan, M Nicholls.

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