NOT EVEN CLOSE
Dublin dominance reasserted as Mayo’s bid to lay down early marker is ruthlessly swatted aside
IT IS five years now since Mayo fans were spotted taking selfies with the scoreboard at Castlebar in the background. The shock and awe of embarrassing Dublin by 0-20 to 0-8 just had to be recorded for posterity.
That was the night Conor Mortimer became the all-time top Mayo scorer. Paul Flynn and Diarmuid Connolly were red-carded. Very different kind of milestones.
But that was then. This is the Jim Gavin era. It’s 11 matches now and counting that Mayo have failed to turn over Dublin. Thirty-three matches now that the team chasing a fifth Allianz Football League title in succession and a third consecutive All-Ireland have clocked up unbeaten.
The greatest Dublin team ever? No question.
They were simply a class apart last night, only the heroics of All-Star goalkeeper David Clarke sparing Mayo further embarrassment.
It wasn’t until the 39th minute that wing-back Stephen Coen thumped over a first point from play. No Mayo forward matched that feat all evening.
Instead, the level of Dublin’s attacking play was a joy to watch at times, full of pace and invention from start to finish.
In keeping with the more recent relationship with Mayo, this was another fractious affair at times, referee David Coldrick needing his wits about him to keep track of the grudge matches that were taking place on and off the ball.
One of those left Dean Rock requiring a change of jersey, a setto with Diarmuid O’Connor not making for pretty viewing and seeing both players booked.
The problem for Mayo was, Dublin were playing all the football. Failing to register a score from play in the first half showed up some familiar deficiencies, Andy Moran manfully ploughing a lone furrow but he was left far too isolated for long periods.
Kevin McLoughlin and Cillian O’Connor did force saves from Stephen Cluxton in the first half but Dublin could have had a hatful of goals – if Eoghan O’Gara had a finisher’s instinct. It was Rock who played him in after just seven minutes with a brilliant outside of the boot pass – late replacement Lee Keegan getting caught out playing his man from the front.
O’Gara blazed wide though with the goal at his mercy.
From the kick-out, Clarke went to chip it short only for his pass to be intercepted by Shane Carthy. Suddenly Dublin were three-versus-one and in on goal. Ciarán Kilkenny had the intelligence to play the ball across to Conor McHugh on the back post who palmed it to the net.
With Rock already posting the first of his six frees and McHugh pointing, it was 1-2 to no score.
Cillian O’Connor pointed a 45 to get his team off the mark after 10 minutes and added another nine minutes later. In between O’Gara really should have goaled.
The pace of the Dublin players hitting the line was telling. Eric Lowndes summed that up perfectly and his break saw Brian Fenton thunder onto a pass to play in the Dublin full-forward. Somehow, O’Gara swung an awkward boot at it, and actually managed to put it out over the Cusack Stand sideline.
Cluxton was brought into action then by Kevin McLoughlin who made space brilliantly with a lovely shimmy, only to drive his shot straight at the Dublin goalkeeper.
Michael Darragh Macauley had the ball in the net for a second Dublin goal just before half-time only for it to be disallowed after he touched it on the ground, first forcing a great save from Clarke.
Turning 1-5 to 0-2 up, Dublin wasted no time in cranking up the pressure into their favoured Hill 16 end. If Mayo thought a first point from play from Coen was going to change the game, they were sorely wrong.
Dublin simply slipped into another gear, continuing to weave intricate patterns and embellish them with some breathtaking scores.
A four-point burst killed off any hopes Mayo had. Philly McMahon ghosted forward to kick a second
cracker, McHugh pilfered two and Rock added another to leave it 1-12 to 0-5.
Tom Parsons and Colm Boyle responded with points for Mayo before the visitors needed goalkeeper Clarke to save their blushes once more after Donal Vaughan was black carded for knocking over Rock close to goal.
Substitute Paddy Andrews stepped up to take the penalty and sidefooted it low. Clarke read it and saved, then made a wonderful block from the rebound, confirming his All-Star reputation with a third save from the follow up.
Not that it mattered in terms of the final result, the champions rattling off another four points without reply as Mayo went from the 47th minute to the end without troubling the scoreboard.
This time, no Mayo fans troubled it either at the final whistle of this heavy defeat. Dublin: S Cluxton; P McMahon, M Fitzsimons, D Byrne (C Reddin 66); D Daly, J Small (C Mullally 72), E Lowndes; B Fenton (E O Conghaile 70), MD Macauley; S Carthy (P Flynn 51), D Rock, N Scully; C McHugh (K McManamon 55), E O’Gara (P Andrews 46), C Kilkenny. Scorers: D Rock 0-8 (6fs), C McHugh 1-3, E Lowndes, P McMahon 0-2, P Flynn 0-1. Yellow card: D Rock 25. Wides: 5 (4). MaYo: D Clarke; K Higgins, L Keegan, P Durcan; S Coen, C Boyle, D Vaughan (S Nally 51); T Parsons, J Gibbons (B Harrison h-t); F Boland (D Kirby 66), K McLoughlin, D O’Connor (C Loftus 63); E Regan (C Loftus blood 2227), C O’Connor, A Moran (C O’Shea 54). Scorers: C O’Connor (2 45s), E Regan (2fs) 0-2, S Coen, C Boyle, T Parsons 0-1. Yellow cards: D O’Connor 25, T Parsons 63. black card: D Vaughan 49. Wides: 6 (7). Referee: D Coldrick (Meath). attendance: 34,758.