1. Dublin confirm their greatness
DUBLIN CONFIRMED THEIR status as one of the game’s greatest ever teams today.
Dublin join Kerry as the only teams to retain the All-Ireland since 1991. This is a side that went the entire 2016 league and championship unbeaten. That’s some record. Dublin’s unbeaten run in competitive games stretches back to March 2015. In 25 championship matches under Jim Gavin, they’ve been beaten just once – by Donegal in 2014.
This might be a Dublin team marginally past the peak of its powers – as highlighted by the decline in the form of Bernard Brogan and Paul Flynn. But they’ve got that special ingredient that all great teams have – a knack of ending up on the right side of the results on big days like this.
Mayo threw everything they had at Dublin, but the victors were fractionally better. Gavin’s bench provided real pace and power and pushed Dublin over the line.
Gavin brave selection calls to leave Brogan and Michael Darragh MacAuley on the bench proved to be the right ones, while the introduction of Michael Fitzsimons into corner-back was a masterstroke.
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2. Mayo mistakes
Cillian O’Connor certainly doesn’t warrant any criticism for his late free, which trailed agonizingly wide. It was a difficult kick at the best of times for O’Connor, but after 76 minutes of full-blooded action he just didn’t have the power left in his legs to get the distance required.
Secondly, with Aidan O’Shea and Barry Moran parked in the full-forward line during the closing stages, Mayo persisted with running the ball when the early ball inside would have asked different questions of the Dublin rearguard.
But we must get to the real game-changer. Most of the post-game focus will centre around Stephen Rochford’s decision to drop David Clarke in favour of Rob Hennelly. The 26-year-old had a nightmare, botching a number of kick-outs before he dealt miserably with a Paul Flynn delivery into the area and dragged down Paddy Andrews for a penalty.
Clarke came in for Hennelly, who was black-carded, but the damage was done and Connolly tucked away the penalty expertly. From that point on Dublin always had that little bit of daylight between them and Mayo.
All-Ireland finals are often decided on such small margins, and it’s going to be a very difficult day for Hennelly to live with. But the sun will rise in the morning and he’ll be back.
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3. Impact of Dublin’s bench
It has almost become a cliche after games to mention the importance of Dublin’s bench and how it saw them home. But Gavin’s reinforcements are a big reason the Sam Maguire will remain in the capital this winter.
It’s easy to forget now, but Mayo had begun to shut down Dublin’s attack during the third quarter. The Leinster champions went 12 minutes without troubling the scoreboard after Connolly’s penalty. In fact, they didn’t get a single score from play between the 34th minute to the 54th minute.
Bernard Brogan was the man who ended the 20 minute drought with a point from play, after a typically direct burst forward from MacAuley. Both were introduced minutes beforehand.
MacAuley’s arrival visibly stoked the fires of his team-mates and he made three vital assists, but the real hero was Cormac Costello, who scored 0-3 from four shots.
After staring in early stages of the league, he became a more peripheral figure. He was black-carded in the quarter-final against Donegal, and was a 70th minute substitute in the semi-final win over Kerry. Costello played no part in the drawn final.
Two weeks after spending his afternoon in the stands, he’s won the All-Ireland for Dublin. You can’t but admire how he took on the responsibility and trusted his talent. Not easy for a player who’s been on the outside looking in for the majority of the year.
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4. Black cards again under the microscope
The application of the black card rule by Maurice Deegan left a lot to be desired. Discussions about the consistency of the card have become all too common after big days out at HQ.
Johnny Cooper and Lee Keegan were dismissed in the first-half, while John Small was fortunate not to join them for two separate incidents – the first a trip on Andy Moran, and the second when he clashed with Cillian O’Connor off-the-ball in first-half stoppage-time.
Indeed Jason Doherty also avoided a caution for his follow up on Jonny Cooper after Keegan’s 18th minute goal.
Diarmuid Connolly was lucky to escape with a yellow for a third man tackle on Donal Vaughan in the same sequence of play as the Small-O’Connor incident.
It must be said that Deegan’s decision to give Hennelly a black card was the correct one.
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5. Mayo trudge down a well-worn path
A third All-Ireland final defeat for this group will be hard to take. You’d struggle to find a team in any sport who have consistently played at such a high level for a sustained period without winning that one championship.
Yet again, they can point to misfortune. Stephen Rochford’s best player Lee Keegan was lost to a black-card in the 35th minute and Rob Hennelly’s lapse in concentration handed Dublin a cheap goal and the initiative.
Mayo lacked that pacey inside forward to compliment the rest of their team. For all the intelligence and movement Andy Moran and Cillian O’Connor provide, and the strength of Aidan O’Shea, they’d thrive with a bolter like Costello providing real penetration up front.
The resilience this group have shown to continually return from set-backs has been remarkable. To a certain extent they’ve changed the mindset of Mayo football.
Young leaders like Patrick Durcan, Diarmuid O’Connor and Conor O’Shea, who all performed very well today, show that the county is still producing top-class talent. They’re not going anywhere.
Question marks will hang over the futures of Keith Higgins, Andy Moran and Alan Dillon. But that speculation is all for another day.
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