Kilmacud Crokes footballer, Paul Mannion.
Dublin senior football championship, Group 4, Round 3
KILMACUD CROKES 0-11 THOMAS DAVIS 1-8
By Paul Keane at O'Toole Park
Their remarkable record in Dublin SFC group games endures but this was as close as Kilmacud Crokes have come to experiencing a round robin defeat.
Dublin star Paul Mannion's fifth point of the game in the 53rd minute - the last score in a blood and thunder match that ran to 67 minutes - ultimately secured the draw for three-in-a-row county and Leinster champions Crokes.
It was far from their vintage best and with Thomas Davis down to 14 players since early in the second-half following the dismissal of Sean Farrelly, the Stillorgan side will probably kick themselves that they didn't win.
But with only a draw needed at the start of the day to win Group 4 and to advance to the quarter-finals, Crokes made sure of avoiding defeat and, in the process, ensured that they still haven't lost a group stage game in Dublin.
That record now stretches to 21 games since the round robin element was brought into the Dublin championship in 2018.
Aside from Mannion, Joe Quigley was prominent in attack for Crokes, scoring four points, while Sligo full-forward Paddy O'Connor got on the scoresheet too.
But the absence of Shane Walsh was definitely felt and boss Robbie Brennan will be doing everything to get the Galway star back from injury in time for their quarter-final clash in a fortnight.
Aside from Walsh, Crokes were also without Dublin defender Theo Clancy and it didn't help that they ran into a well drilled and fired up Thomas Davis who needed to win to make the quarter-finals.
In a cagey encounter, Thomas Davis seized control of the game with a Chris Sallier goal from a 21st minute penalty, leaving them 1-3 to 0-4 ahead.
They could have had a couple more goals in the first-half but former Kerry U-20 goalkeeper Devon Burns pulled off two solid saves for Crokes.
Quigley and Mannion points for Crokes just before the break amounted to a solid response to the goal concession and Thomas Davis led by just 1-4 to 0-6 at half-time.
The straight red card shown to Farrelly just six minutes into the second-half following an incident that left Tom Fox grounded was a big blow to the Tallaght outfit.
But back-to-back Eoin Kirby points left them two clear at the three-quarter mark, 1-7 to 0-8.
They couldn't push on for the vital win though and Crokes, digging deep and bringing on former Dublin players Craig Dias and Andrew McGowan, along with ex-captain Shane Cunningham, made sure they kept their impressive record of avoiding defeat in group games intact.
Incidentally, the throw-in to the game was delayed by around 20 minutes due to an injury suffered by Dublin defender Eoin Murchan whilst playing for Na Fianna in the earlier game at O'Toole Park.
Kilmacud Crokes scorers: Paul Mannion 0-5 (0-2f), Joe Quigley 0-4, Paddy O'Connor 0-1, Cian O'Connor 0-1.
Thomas Davis scorers: Eoin Kirby 0-4 (0-3f), Chris Sallier 1-0 (1-0 pen), Dylan Caffrey 0-2 (0-1f), Sean Farrelly 0-1, Davy Keogh 0-1.
Kilmacud Crokes: Devon Burns; Michael Mullin, James Murphy, Anthony Quinn; Mark O'Leary, Rory O'Carroll, Dan O'Brien; Ben Shovlin, Luke O'Kelly; Tom Fox, Paul Mannion, Shane Horan; Hugh Kenny, Paddy O'Connor, Joe Quigley.
Subs: Craig Dias for Shovlin 37, Luke Ward for Horan 38, Andy McGowan for Fox 42, Shane Cunningham for O'Connor 48.
Thomas Davis: Dylan Caffrey; Adam Fallon, Sean Kennedy, Aaron Shorten; Eanna O'Toole, Cian Murphy, Sean Farrelly; Ryan Deegan, Eamon Conroy; Davy Keogh, Adam Waddick, Eoin Kirby; Sean Benton, Conor Guilfoyle, Chris Sallier.
Subs: Cathal Long for O'Toole 48, Ryan Fahy for Conroy 61, Fionn Lynch for Guilfoyle 63.
Referee: Seamus Farrelly.