1. Mayo live to fight another day
IN THE END, Cillian O’Connor hauled Mayo out of the fire. Dublin were seconds away from an All-Ireland final victory they didn’t deserve, after a topsy-turvy 77 minutes. O’Connor’s late heroics spared the blushes of Aidan O’Shea, who minutes earlier looked like he’d shanked Mayo’s last shot at an equaliser.
There are a couple of different ways you can look at this game, but before all that one thing must be said: Never again let Mayo’s stomach for the fight nor their bottle be questioned.
They found themselves five behind at half-time after conceding two desperately unfortunate own goals. They were three in arrears as we entered injury-time and somehow clawed it back.
That final quarter was about as gripping as anything those 82,257 souls in Croke Park have ever experienced. Alan Dillon wasn’t long off the bench when he curled over from under the Hogan Stand to level matters up on 62 minutes.
The stadium heaved as John Small clipped a over a point, just rewards for his fine display. Then Dean Rock’s free turned it into a two point lead. Next, David Clarke left a poor kickout in Diarmuid Connolly’s hands. Dublin’s advantage became three.
Mayo might curse their bad luck in the first-half, but seven minutes of injury-time gave them hope.
Cillian O’Connor won and converted a free, before the excellent Donal Vaughan ghosted through the Dublin rearguard and raised the white flag. O’Shea’s wild wide with two minutes to play looked costly, even more so when Dublin started running down the clock.
But this Mayo team are just about done with losing finals. There was enough time for one last attack and this time O’Shea took the sensible option and slipped a pass to O’Connor. Bang. Draw match.
Ultimately the men from Connacht have another bite at the cherry, but talk about finding new and interesting ways to be cruel to yourself.
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2. Did the Westerners blow their chance?
This was almost the perfect storm for Mayo, but it’s difficult to reflect on that game without considering whether that was the chance. Will Mayo ever have a better opportunity to win an All-Ireland?
Sure, they shipped a couple of own goals, but James McCarthy had long left the field with a black-card and Dublin were nowhere near their usual performance levels. Mayo gave one of the greatest defensive displays ever witnessed in Croke Park, but after wiping away a five point half-time deficit they failed to put the game away.
Dublin were on the ropes and waiting for that knockout blow during a key spell in the second-half. But Andy Moran spurned a golden goal chance, Seamus O’Shea kept giving possession away and Keith Higgins made an desperate attempt at a kick-pass to his inside forwards. And then there was that Aidan O’Shea shot at the posts that was never on.
All Mayo had to do was be patient and get the right men on the ball close to goal, but that five-minute spell of aimless play gave Dublin the oxygen required to fight back.
Mayo played some terrible ball into attack, particularly in the first-half. Once they started running at the Leinster champions after the interval, Dublin’s Achilles heel revealed itself.
Moving the ball by hand at pace is part of the blueprint to beating Dublin, but they won’t be as bad the next time around.
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3. Dublin’s attack malfunctions
It’s incredible to consider that Dublin’s starting forwards scored just 0-2 from play, and yet they’re still in the All-Ireland. We haven’t seen Jim Gavin’s attack misfire so spectacularly before and we might not again.
Bernard Brogan, Kevin McManamon, Paul Flynn and Diarmuid Connolly were completely shackled by their markers, and while Ciaran Kilkenny picked up plenty of possession, he was way to far out from goals to cause any damage.
Dean Rock’s radar was off for long spells, with the slippy surface making his placed balls off the ground extremely difficult.
Paddy Andrews kicked two scores on his introduction before fading out of the game and while Paul Mannion was lively, maybe Dublin’s bench isn’t as strong as we thought.
Mayo were as comfortable defensively as we’ve seen any team look against this Dublin team. Stephen Rochford got his match-ups spot-on. They completely shut down the Dublin attack and took advantage of the wet conditions as aggressive tackling forced turnover after turnover.
But two accidental finishes into their own net meant they were five behind at the break, when they really should have been in front. Those two own goals might haunt them yet.
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4. Weird but wonderful final
It was an All-Ireland final brimming with oddities. Dublin led by three points after 22 minutes, yet no player in a blue jersey had scored. There were 31 minutes gone by the time Dean Rock became the first Dublin player to raise a flag.
Of course by that stage Mayo were doing their level best to keep Dublin in the game, by putting the ball into their own net twice. Lady luck, which had shone on Mayo in their run to the final, deserted them on this most important of days.
Then the referee adjudged James McCarthy’s collision with Cillian O’Connor as worthy of a black-card, while minutes earlier Michael Darragh MacAuley had avoided a similar fate despite a suspect trip on Lee Keegan.
Rock, with a 93 percent strike rate coming into the game, could only find the target from two of his opening six efforts on goal. Scores arrived from places we didn’t expect – with Tom Parsons, Donal Vaughan (twice) and John Small all finding the range.
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5. Who’s in better shape for replay?
Dublin weren’t close to their best today and everybody knows it. Aidan O’Shea and Andy Moran gave interviews on the field after the game, but the Dubs were nowhere to be seen. They had long trudged off into the dressing room with their tails between their legs.
And still, if Connolly had gone short with a late sideline and Dublin had continued to play keep ball, they might be waking up as All-Ireland champions tomorrow.
Although it’s reasonable to assume that dominating the Dubs for long spells will fill Mayo with confidence, the reigning champions have far more room to improve.
Gavin will be seething with that display, and there’s every chance he’ll take an axe to that Dublin starting fifteen. Mayo were extremely impressive for long spells and Rochford got so much right tactically, yet they needed an inspirational score from O’Connor to secure a replay.
Roll on October 1st.
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