Mayo will wage war but lose the battle while Kingdom look to have enough in reserve to edge out Red Hands

ONE of the benefits of the new, tighter calendar is that we get weekends like this with four of the top teams in the country going at it on consecutive days. One of the downsides is that it will all be over in the blink of an eye.

Tonight’s game was sold out from early in the week. Tomorrow’s clash will attract a healthy crowd too and inside 24 hours, we’ll know who will be in this year’s All-Ireland final.

Ironically, it’s the game in which I can only see one outcome that is the biggest draw this weekend. It’s probably fitting that Dublin would have to beat Mayo. It has been by far the big-gest rivalry of the decade, but I can only see one outcome. A Dublin win.

For all the same reasons I could see Mayo winning last weekend, the opposite is true this time around. I just can’t

see them pulling it off this evening.

They had a fortnight to prepare for that Donegal game. They got some rest into weary legs and some more rehab into injured bodies. They had time to prepare and focus for a door-die game in front of their home crowd. In that situation, Mayo are very hard to stop.

This weekend, all of that is turned on its head. Last weekend was great for Mayo football, but there is a psychological and physiological toll to be paid.

Beating Donegal was huge and there’ll be a come down period for that. That’s only natural. They had two full weeks to go after Shaun Patton, Michael Murphy and Ryan McHugh.

They will have had maybe one good training session this week. I can’t imagine James Horan (below) was talking Stephen Cluxton and kick-outs and marking assignments until late this week. Hardly ideal considering they take on Dublin in their own back yard.

Then there’s the physical element to their recovery. Earlier this season, Mayo beat Galway in a huge game. The following week they were flat against Kerry in Killarney. It’s a big ask for any team, not least Mayo’s senior men with the loss of Jason Doherty a further blow. And I don’t foresee Dublin making life easy for them either. They won’t take them for granted, given how previous fixtures between these sides have gone. Rob Hennelly will likely be in goal and Dublin will have noticed his preference for going long last weekend. Jim Gavin will be ready for that.

Horan has a decision to make too. In previous games, Mayo have been willing to go toeto-toe with Dublin, but of late Colm Boyle has been playing as a sweeper and he has been brilliant.

The problem with Dublin is that their forwards are so good you can’t leave anyone free, while Con O’Callaghan and Paul Mannion look to be in the form of their lives.

So if Horan wants Boyle as the extra man, he might have to pick someone like Stephen