How the national press viewed Mayo's 'extraordinary' triumph over Dublin empire

"Mayo’s young team — having seemed to accept their fate for the first three-quarters of the game — were suddenly unburdened, and went into full-on championship mode."

There is generous praise for Mayo in the sports pages of the national newspapers today following their scintillating three-point victory over defending champions Dublin after extra time in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final at Croke Park yesterday evening.

In his column in the Sunday Independent under the headline 'Fearless warriors seize the day to end an empire', Colm O'Rourke wrote: "Dublin were great champions, but nothing lasts forever and it was fitting that Mayo delivered knockout blow.

"Mayo ripped down the walls of an empire in Croke Park last night. They did so with bravery as much as class but long before this was over the were the complete masters.

"I did not think that Mayo had much chance before the start; at half-time I thought it was all over as Mayo were insipid in everything they did. They were well off their men and Dublin completely owned the ball.

"There was a change in the second half to all-out war and Dublin did not like it very much.

"The subs that Mayo brought on made a big difference — Enda Hession, Jordan Flynn, Brian Walsh and Darren Coen added a bit of pace but far more importantly the tactics altered. Instead of sitting back and being passive Mayo decided to push up.

"Not only on kick-outs but on all plays. The security that Dublin had in the first half of passing the ball across the back line disappeared as Mayo hounded them at every turn.

"When it came to trench war Mayo were hungrier. Lee Keegan and Paddy Durcan drove them on but Tommy Conroy started to fire and Ryan O’Donoghue began to grab a yard of space."

In the same newspaper, Joe Brolly said the end of Dublin's decade of dominance was sad to see, but not as sad as I thought it would be

He elaborated: "In the 38th minute, with Dublin five up, and moving gloomily towards another anti-climactic win, the game went into a dumb phase.

"A sort of footballing purgatory, with Dublin holding possession, going backwards, backwards, backwards and nothing in particular happening. For ten long minutes this continued.

"Then, something extraordinary happened.

"Aidan O’Shea was taken off. It felt like a clarion call for a new era.

"Mayo’s young team — having seemed to accept their fate for the first three-quarters of the game — were suddenly unburdened, and went into full-on championship mode.

"Dublin, stuck in a negative rut, could not respond and for the rest of the game they were blown away. Eight times Dublin fisted the ball to a Mayo man.

"When Davy Byrne soloed over his own end line in the 77th minute to give Mayo the chance to equalise with the last kick of the game, Rob Hennelly nailed the ’45 imperiously and the Dubs were done.

"Hennelly was unrecognisable from the psychological wreck we have come to know.

"Here, he played magnificently throughout, his inch perfect kick-outs quarterbacking Mayo on their way, complemented by two superb frees from around 60 metres and then that killer ’45."

In the Irish Times, Keith Duggan said in the end the sight of Dublin in disintegration was shocking to behold

He wrote: "After six years of unbroken domination that at times left the rest of the country in despair, Dublin, All-Ireland champions 2015-2020, went down in flames on a rainy night in the capital.

"It was appropriate that they fell to Mayo, the county that had offered Dublin the toughest challenges and suffered repeated heartbreaking outcomes over the past half-decade.

"In the end, the sight of Dublin in disintegration was shocking. The All-Ireland champions struck 0-10 in a first half in which they presented the illusion of the old control and decision making.

"But over a wild and extraordinary hour, the most voracious scoring team of modern times would manage just another 0-4 in 62 minutes of football.

"The champions failed to score entirely in the third quarter when referee Conor Lane whistled for the water break, a fact that would have been inconceivable in any summer over the past decade.

"And they just about held on as the Mayo youth division ran through them in waves in the last quarter, suddenly aware that there was nothing to be frightened of here."

The Irish Times chief GAA writer Sean Moran was also fulsome in his praise of Mayo.

He observed: "So it ended. Dublin, losing altitude all season, finally fell to earth.

"Champions for the past unparalleled six years, they met a Mayo team with momentum and spirit and their diminished powers proved inadequate to the challenge.

"They fell not to a bolt from the blue with time nearly up but to their own lack of conviction, as reflected in inability to register the necessary scores and indiscipline, reflected in three black cards – and a few more that might have been shown – and some borderline red cards in separate incidents.

"Their unease was summed up in the extraordinary passage of play that saw them throwing the ball around in their own square to try to avoid Mayo’s encroaching forwards.

"The lack of composure led to the ball going out for a 45 and Rob Hennelly, availing of two chances to convert – the first wide but ordered retaken, ironically because Mayo had 16 players on the field and the second bang on target to force extra-time.

"It was fitting that the county which had suffered more than any because of Dublin’s dominion should deal the final blow – all the more so because they were so reduced by injury coming into the match with their All Star defender Oisín Mullin as expected ruled out with a quad injury.

"It was a first win over their tormentors in nine championship matches but a second for manager James Horan, who was at the helm in 2012 when Mayo dethroned Pat Gilroy’s then champions."

The GAA correspondent of the Irish Examiner John Fogarty said at the ninth time of asking and nine years after their last championship win over Dublin, Mayo shattered the champions’s seven-in-a-row hopes.

He reported: "It couldn’t be anything but dramatic, their insipid first half didn’t augur well, and when they will face Kerry or Tyrone is anyone’s guess right now but to see off their long-time rivals will fill them with confidence in the coming weeks.

"With his third deadball score of the game, a Rob Hennelly 45 had forced extra-time. Helped by the dismissal of Colm Basquel for a black card in the fourth minute of the first half of extra-time, Mayo reeled off three scores in less than 120 seconds as they crushed Dublin’s kick-out, Tommy Conroy sending over two of them.

"Interventions by Lee Keegan, Bryan Walsh and Paddy Durcan were vital in a tense second half in which there was no score.

"Keeping Dublin scoreless from the first minute of extra-time and in the third quarter of normal time, their victory was richly deserved and inflicted upon the likes of the great Brian Fenton a first SFC defeat and Dublin's first in 45 championship fixtures.

"Down six at half-time in normal time, Mayo mounted a comeback but three points wasn’t a terrific return.

"Three was the difference at the second water break although Paddy Small, Dublin’s first in 21 minutes, and Dean Rock points stretched it to five points."

Now a county must get back down to earth very quickly as it turns its focus on completing the task of winning its first All-Ireland SFC crown since 1951.