Mayo 0-19 Dublin 0-16HISTORY CAME crashing down on All-Ireland champions Dublin in a packed Croke Park yesterday, as Mayo repeated their famous win of six years ago to set up the first Connacht-Ulster All-Ireland final since the county went down to Cavan in 1948.
It could be said that nothing became Dublin’s title defence as much as the ending of it.
The champions went down in flames after a titanic final quarter but the fortress of their much- vaunted, systematic defence had been blown apart in the second and third quarters and the damage was to prove irreparable.
It was a close-run thing, though, and had Bernard Brogan been enjoying the form of 2010 or even last year, the 67th-minute goal opportunity would have had the umpire reaching for his green flag immediately. That would have levelled the match and Dublin’s momentum would surely have been irresistible.
There was plenty of room to go around David Clarke but Brogan went for it instantly and the Mayo goalkeeper managed to keep the ball out and although Paul Flynn hit a wonderful soaring point from the ensuing break, Dublin’s apparently unstoppable recovery was halted.
Mayo scored two of the last remaining three points to fall over the finishing line.
The Connacht champions shouldn’t have needed to scramble so much to get there.
They had a number of chances to breast the finishing tape in a canter: three goal chances in the second half ended in wides for Jason Doherty, Cillian O’Connor, who curled his shot outside the far post just after the margin had been cut to two, and Michael Conroy.
This was a mad match.
Dublin have had a poor championship by the standards they set last year but few expected the wreckage of the first half.
The defence, which bulwarks the team, got pulled everywhere once Mayo hit their stride and if Rory O’Carroll tried to hold things together, both of his corner backs were in trouble.
Centrefield, admittedly about whom there were reservations, was annihilated by the in-form opposing partnership of Barry Moran and the exceptional Aidan O’Shea, whose physical exuberance saw him ransacking possession from Michael Darragh Macauley and Denis Bastick, who admittedly was well below-par.
The tyranny continued into the third quarter when Dublin hardly won a ball.
Mayo’s defence coped but from the start the champions’ attack was suffering from the familiar malaises, seen most recently in the quarter-final, of lacking cohesion and poor decision-making on the ball.
Alan Brogan’s continued absence due to injury didn’t help and without his vision and ability to link play – he was withdrawn before the start and his appearance after half-time lasted only 17 minutes – the attack stuttered and enacted a catalogue of missed chances.
Ger Cafferkey did well on Bernard Brogan, the resurgence of whose faltering form never happened and the hesitant play that has replaced it cost scores, and in general Mayo were quick to cut out any hopeful and directionless ball that Dublin piped into attack.
In contrast Mayo were sharp, turning over ball and taking chances crisply, even though they too were missing their playmaker Andy Moran.
O’Connor nailed two early 45s to equalise Brogan’s opening two frees and from then on, the Connacht champions exploited the looseness in their opponents’ defence.
Alan Dillon ended the day with three points from play and his alertness and decisive finishing marked him out as the team’s most dangerous forward.
But as has been their wont this year, Mayo spread the scoring burden among nine players, with all of the forwards scoring from play.
The damage was done in the second and third quarters when Mayo took apart Dublin’s possession platform and ransacked their defence and outscored them 0-14 to 0-5. The pre-interval barrage that sent them in ahead by double scores, 0-12 to 0-6, confirmed Dublin were in serious trouble.
Manager Pat Gilroy made changes, bringing Philip McMahon into defence in place of Michael Fitzsimons and replacing captain Bryan Cullen with Alan Brogan, whose introduction emphasised their desperation.
After an early flurry created a goal chance for Diarmuid Connolly (whose two first-half points and a similar total from Ciarán Kilkenny were the highlights of the champions’ penetrative attempts) which was saved, Mayo continued to cut out attempted through balls and 10 minutes into the resumption the margin had stretched to seven, 0-14 to 0-7.
Referee Joe McQuillan had to sort out a 40th-minute off-the-ball altercation involving Enda Varley, McMahon, James McCarthy and O’Carroll.
Apparently endless deliberations – UN General Assemblies have concluded more quickly – between the officials saw yellow cards shown but nothing more stringent.
Mayo then lengthened their stride and by the 51st minute Dillon was popping over a 17th point for a lead of 10.
Whether Mayo went down a gear or Dublin, faced with abject humiliation, found a response, somewhere the dynamic changed completely. Macauley intensified his contribution from the middle and Eoghan O’Gara and Kevin McManamon provided fresh outlets in attack.
Now Mayo couldn’t win a break. They were further hampered by the departure of Kevin McLaughlin – one of three temporary substitutions and eight replacements, none of which were at issue, according to GAA sources afterwards – whose ability to win loose ball is such an important part of the team’s operations.
Dublin pressed and pressed frantically and, almost unbelievably, reeled off eight points in a row to cut the deficit to just two.
Mayo were just hanging on, fouling desperately time and time again and Dublin incrementally cashed in but the big pay-out eluded them right up until the end of the sixth minute of injury-time.
So football will have its fifth different champions in successive years and few titles will be celebrated as wildly as 2012’s will be in three weeks’ time.
KEY MOMENTS: Hits and misses that helped shape the outcome
12 minutes: Michael Conroy shoots Mayo ahead with a great point from the right wing after being picked out by Aidan O'Shea's free. The score pushes Mayo ahead for the first time having trailed by two in the opening minutes. The lead never changes hands again.
Mayo 0-3 Dublin 0-2.
13 minutes: Dublin's attempts to wrest back the initiative are nearly successful when Bernard Brogan advances in from the left corner and picks out Paul Flynn. His turn takes him into a scoring position and his shot, perhaps intended as a point, rebounds off the crossbar and is cleared.
Mayo 0-3, Dublin 0-2.
33 to 36 minutes: The first major assault on Dublin turns a match that was reasonably balanced at 0-8 to 0-6 to Mayo into one with which the champions are now struggling to keep pace.
Firstly Dublin are turned over and Kevin McLaughlin points. In quick succession Jason Doherty's point and Enda Varley's free expand the margin to five.
Mayo 0-11, Dublin 0-6.
37 minutes: After the break Alan Brogan is introduced and within two minutes, has combined with brother Bernard to open up a chance for Diarmuid Connolly. From a tight angle he goes for goal but David Clarke saves and although Stephen Cluxton points the 45, the momentum of the goal might have prevented Mayo from gaining momentum in the following 10 minutes.
Mayo 0-12 Dublin 0-7.
49 minutes: Cian O'Sullivan is dispossessed by Jason Doherty when taking the ball out of defence. The Mayo forward has a clear run on goal but his shot is wide – one of several chances the winners squandered. A goal could well have ensured that the Dublin comeback was still born. Instead Michael Darragh Macauley goes to centrefield and Eoghan O'Gara comes into attack, key switches in the late resurgence.
Mayo 0-16 Dublin 0-7.
67 minutes: With the lead reduced to four points, Bernard Brogan gets inside Ger Cafferkey and with just the goalkeeper to beat, shoots high and to the right but Clarke, although going the wrong way, sticks up his right hand and blocks the ball. Although Flynn points, had Brogan scored, the match would have been level and all of the momentum with Dublin.
Mayo 0-17 Dublin 0-15.
72 minutes: Finally Mayo's scoring drought ends when Cillian O'Connor points a free from over 40 metres to restore a three-point lead with just a couple of minutes to go. Mayo 0-18 Dublin 0-15.
77 minutes: The last throw of the dice for Dublin: Cluxton drops a 45 into the Mayo square and the ball bobbles around before being seized by Keith Higgins and carried clear as Joe McQuillan blows the final whistle.
Mayo 0-19 Dublin 0-16.
