All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Dublin v Mayo (Croke Park, Sunday 4pm)
FOR such a familiar fixture, Mayo are heading into the unknown, or at least the ‘undone’, when they take on Dublin on Sunday.
The westerners will have to do a couple of things they’ve never managed before: beat the Dubs in a quarter-final and also record a third consecutive victory over them.
Mayo Championship wins over Dublin are rare enough. An article elsewhere earlier this week referred to ‘their last three’ over Dublin – they are their only three.
2006, 2012, and 2021 are understandably etched in Mayo memories.
All three came in All-Ireland semi-finals.
In a sense, every Mayo victory since 1951 has been ultimately Pyrrhic; no matter who they’ve beaten on the way, they’ve never had quite enough strength left to lift the Sam Maguire Cup.
Yet for all that the westerners will kick themselves about their inability to defeat Tyrone in the decider two years ago, it’s Dublin who will give them nightmares – that’s if they can even manage to get any sleep.
Despite the slabberations of some, the Mayo team of the previous decade was magnificent, punching well above the weight of a smallish county.
Still they could never outdo the Dubs, though.
They came close. By God did they come close.
Donal Vaughan’s brain-fart in 2017, getting himself sent off just after Dublin defender John Small had been dismissed, was probably the worst moment.
It took Mayo a century of trying to defeat Dublin in senior championship combat, from their first go to their famous victory in the 2006 All-Ireland semi-final.
Three times Mayo have had the opportunity to exert some dominance over Dublin: in 2009, 2013, and now.
After that 2006 breakthrough they followed it up with a one-point win in round 6 of Division One in 2007 – but then could only draw in Ballina two years later, in round 5, 0-9 apiece.
The 2012 All-Ireland semi-final success came after a round 2 top flight win earlier that year, a 0-20 to 0-8 hammering inflicted by the hosts in Castlebar. Dublin had been leading by 0-8 to 0-5 at the same venue seven weeks earlier but that match was abandoned at half-time due to fog.
However, when the sides met at Croke Park in round 3 of 2013, Dublin won by 2-14 to 0-16.
Now Mayo come into this clash having dethroned Dublin as six-in-a-row All-Ireland champions in the 2021 semi-final, albeit after extra time, then going on to defeat them again at Croke Park in last year’s league, a 2-11 to 0-12 win.
That contributed to Dublin’s relegation, but they bounced straight back, winning Division Two, earning emphatic revenge in that final against the only team that beat them in the League, Derry.
The Oak Leafers and Dessie Farrell’s men are the only unbeaten sides left in the senior Championship, with Dublin having drawn against Roscommon, who ousted Mayo from Connacht.
A further measure of the task facing Kevin McStay’s Mayo is that Dublin have suffered only Championship losses since the 2014 semi-final against Donegal. The first against Mayo, after extra time two years ago, then in last year’s last four, thanks to that last-gasp wonder free from Kerry’s Seanie O’Shea.
Dublin haven’t lost an All-Ireland SFC quarter-final since 2009, also against the Kingdom, who crushed the ‘startled earwigs’.
Mayo can do this.
Their hard-fought, wind-swept win over arch-rivals Galway in Salthill last Sunday showed the depth of both their collective character and their squad.
Having Cillian O’Connor back is a real boost, and Tommy Conroy added to their attacking options too, with the latter earning another start.
Allstar midfielder Matthew Ruane returns to the starting side, as does defender Padraig O’Hora. Aidan O’Shea makes his 84th Championship appearance for Mayo, equalling Andy Moran’s record.
Farrell and company will worry that Dublin haven’t been sufficiently tested: the usual stroll through Leisnter, then a group of the Rossies, Kildare, and Sligo, compared to Mayo beating Kerry and Galway (albeit only edging past Louth and losing to Cork).
Dublin are also much-changed defensively, in terms of personnel, from their famous six-in-a-row side that dominated from 2015 to 2020.
Mayo have been better on their travels too, apart from that defeat on neutral ground to the Rebels.
The head says Dublin will click, and progress. The heart and gut go for Mayo.
