Mayo due thanks for bringing us to our senses regarding Dublin’s immortality

ON the eve of last Sunday’s drawn All-Ireland final, the debate had almost reached its last full stop. Beat Mayo, and this Dublin football team would find themselves alone on the greatest stage of all as the greatest Dublin football team there has ever been.

The headiness of a fast approaching All-Ireland day draws big conclusions out of too many people.

Turned out that Jim Gavin’s very finely coached and styled team failed to build on the advantage of two flukey goals of an epic nature, and also allowed a three-points lead in injury time slip out of their grasp.

The team boss himself, at the conclusion of an afternoon that admittedly mixed the weird with the dreadful, was very happy to get a second chance at winning back-to-back titles.

Now, six days in advance of the replay, there’s no more chatter, not even a notional thought, that Dublin will be dining with any other group of immortals if they manage to either squeeze through or convincingly finish the job on Saturday. Quite proper, too. At the end of a more sober week, it’s no harm, however, in continuing a full valuation of Dublin 2011-16. Beginning with their three All-Irelands won.

As Kerry captain, Darran O’Sullivan rightly put it, Dublin ‘stole’ their title in 2011 by one point. Two years later, their one-point victory over Mayo, which was completed with only 13 fit

men on the field, said just as much about the naivety of their opponents as their own heroics.

Last year, they had three points to spare over Kerry and landed a defining victory. They were one of the great teams of modern times, up there with Kerry and Tyrone a decade previously, but they still remained some distance short of Dublin 1974-79.

We can break it down even further to determine their worthiness.

Is Stephen Cluxton a better netminder than Paddy Cullen? No. Are either Philly McMahon or Jonny Cooper better than Gay O’Driscoll or Robbie Kelleher? No and no, but they are probably as good. Is Cian O’Sullivan better than Kevin Moran or, to make a fitter comparison, Tommy Drumm? No. Well short. Is Brian Fenton (left), who after a mediocre-to-good second season is foolishly being hailed as Footballer of the Year in waiting, better than Brian Mullins (inset, left)? No. And the question should not be posed again for four or five years.

Are either Paul Flynn or Ciarán Kilkenny better than David Hickey or Tony Hanahoe? No, but again they are probably as good.

Is Bernard Brogan better than Jimmy Keaveney? No, though it is particularly difficult putting two such geniuses back to back.

There’s no real debate. There’s no arguing with the above, and if Dublin actually lose to Mayo next Saturday not many people will even turn up to take their place in such an argument.

We probably have Mayo to thank for bringing everyone to their senses.

If Dublin had taken full advantage of their lucky breaks last Sunday and tucked away the All-Ireland title by four or five points, they’d have been wrapped up by the end of this week as a team never to be questioned ever again.

Is Stephen Cluxton a better keeper than Paddy Cullen? No.