Mayo set to continue progression against Derry

by Martin Carney, Mayo's foremost GAA columnist

THE appetiser did little to excite. As a first course, watching – alongside 5,000 others – Donegal demolish Clare in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, the portents looked ominous.

On the evidence presented, one-sided contests looked likely for the weekend.

Were Dublin going to gorge themselves in a similar manner on an understrength Mayo or not?

Well, we got the answer in spades in our home away from home, Dr. Hyde Park, the following day with a main course that didn’t give us the win their performance deserved, but nonetheless served notice that Mayo deserve to be taken seriously as contenders for the big prize as the season draws to a close.

This was a performance laced with character, energy and intelligence that on the day made Dublin look quite ordinary at times.

Perhaps the absence of real competitive action in Leinster and in their earlier qualifier games had engendered a false sense of their own worth, but on the day they seemed totally ill-prepared for the challenge Mayo brought.

From their previous games this summer, Dublin had scored an impressive 14 goals and 96 points while just conceding two goals and 61. Their 14 points average winning margin simply served to accentuate the scale of their dominance.

Mayo were to have none of this. They came with a battle plan that they executed to near perfection and showed little respect for the reputations of their much-vaunted opponents.

That approach demanded a massive physical effort from one and all. This they got in spades. To a man, every Mayo player drew every vestige of energy from within and made life hell for their opponents.

Tackling in swarms, suffocating the life out of their opposites in a disciplined and controlled manner, Dublin were subjected to as difficult a contest as they have encountered this year.

Though wind-assisted in the first half, Dublin found it virtually impossible to find room to manoeuvre, get space to create and have time on the ball. Everywhere they went they were met by a shoal of predatory defenders.

Mayo were much sharper to the ball. They used it tellingly for the most part by retaining possession and varying their rhythms and points of attack.

On the right flank, Tommy Conroy and Eoghan McLaughlin used their speed to stretch and open up gaps in the Dublin defence. It was an aspect of play that Dublin couldn’t come to grips with.

The shame is that for all Mayo's good work, indecisive decision-making and untypically poor free-taking let them down.

On a number of occasions, having opened up their opponents' defence, a nano-second delay in getting the shot off proved the difference between a possible score and zero return.

On any ordinary day, to go in at the interval a point down having played against the elements would merit a slap on the back.

But I thought that such was their greater desire, self-belief and application, this score did scant justice to the effort expended.

Much of what’s good with Dublin finds its source in Brian Fenton. On the day he never provided the moments of inspiration or leadership that usually serve his team.

Quite simply, he was never allowed conduct the light blue orchestra, such was the controlled, concentrated and tigerish display his opponent Donnacha Mc Hugh gave.

The Castlebar Mitchels man reduced the seven times All-Ireland winner to the role of spectator for much of the game and Dublin as a team were diminished as a consequence.

Elsewhere, David McBrien, Stephen Coen and Rory Brickenden had their hands full in containing the wiles of Con O’Callaghan, Colm Basquel and Cormac Costello but can take immense satisfaction from the way they hemmed in their opponents and forced them wide.

Costello, to his credit, brought that bit extra. He was the pick of the trio and it's fitting in some respects – I’m trying to objective here – that it was he who scored their last-gasp equaliser.

Whenever they hit the buffers, he managed to find a way out. That late score of his was a killer. It’s not the first time this year that Mayo have conceded at the death and ended up, as a consequence, surrendering what seemed a winning position.

Like many others, I thought that Ryan O’Donoghue’s late, late pointed free had won the day. Yet just as he had done umpteen times earlier, Stephen Cluxton’s restart found his intended target. In this case it was Ciarán Kilkenny, who executed a magnificent catch under pressure.

From there, with three lightening passes, the ball found its way to Costello who somehow screwed the ball between the posts.

This is the mark of champions. For this they deserve credit for cobbling together a score when nothing seemed possible.

In a game littered with fabulous passages of play, many memories remain. On his 90th appearance for the county, Aidan O’Shea sometimes resembled an M1 Abrams battle tank by the manner he ploughed through opponents, drew frees, magnetised the attention of thee or four Dublin players and brought composure to proceedings.

O'Shea will be disappointed that one piece of wonderful intricate play 10 minutes into the second half didn’t end up with a score. Ryan O’Donoghue constantly tormented a variety of opponents.

His disappointment at missing scores that he would normally get in his sleep will be assuaged by the memories of some wonderful efforts from play.

Thankfully the tackle that flattened him in the first half as he shot for goal didn’t do damage. His influence is immense and absence, were it to happen, irreplaceable.

In general, this was a wonderful spectacle that engaged the attention of the 18,000 spectators. They created an atmosphere that was raucous and relentless. It’s a shame that Mayo didn’t get the win their performance merited on a day they made their opponents look vulnerable.

The result raises the question: Are Dublin able to reach the heights of yesteryear any longer?

Irrespective, what it shows from a Mayo point of view is that the Green and Red are in a good place right now.

On last Sunday’s evidence teams will fear them. It's a shame though, and a cause for disappointment, that victory eluded them on a day when they gave their all.

For all that, Kevin McStay should be immensely proud of his team and the team of the performance produced.

Due to the championship structure, there is little time to brood and self-reflect. Hastings Insurance MacHale Park is the venue next weekend for the preliminary quarterfinal clash with Derry. Now that’s a tasty one!

What Derry will we see? A Derry that won the league title or one that imploded ingloriously after their first round defeat to Donegal?

I have no doubt that Mayo will win this today (6.30 p.m.) in Castlebar.

Perhaps it mightn’t require the same levels of excellence as was demanded on Sunday but nonetheless the visitors have potential and deserve full respect.

Let the knockouts begin.