An extraordinary finish to an All-Ireland football semi-final that for three quarters of the journey was deeply ordinary if never less than compulsively watchable.
It’s difficult to know where to begin, but for starters just consider this: with eight minutes of normal time remaining Mayo trailed by seven points. For once this wasn’t a match they left behind them.
Another nugget to ponder: they didn’t manage a single score from play between the 55th second of the game and the 38th minute, yet somehow they didn’t lose. And another: on an afternoon Mayo refused to commit bodies to the attack until desperation demanded it, Cillian O’Connor, who landed 1-9 from placed balls, did more than anyone to save the day for them.
Dublin’s late collapse was as total as it was mystifying after a power surge entering the home turn had put them in the clear. They were two points up when Jack McCaffrey sallied forward in the 57th minute, kept going and played in Brian Fenton for an attempt from close range. Robbie Hennelly was quick off his line to smother the shot but the ball ran loose and Kevin McManamon prodded it to the net. The Brogan brothers weighed in with a point each and McCaffrey kicked another. An hour gone and the favourites were 2-12 to 0-11 ahead.
That should have been that. That was surely that. But Andy Moran and Keith Higgins replied with points to keep hope alive for Mayo, however faintly, and then something deeply strange happened. Stephen Cluxton, he of the stratospheric standards, telegraphed a ball to Andy Moran on the endline while in the process of some simple housekeeping duty. Although Dublin got away with it thanks to a goalline stop from John Small, aided by a slight deflection from the recovering Cluxton, it was a sign that they weren’t home and hosed yet. It was little short of an invitation to Mayo to keep attacking and they didn’t spurn it.
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Alan Freeman, moments on as a substitute, narrowed the gap to four points. Green and red shirts finally started to flood forward as the Mayo contingent of the 82,300 attendance found their voice and with two minutes left Colm Boyle took the shortest route to goal and went down in the area surrounded by Dubliners. Joe McQuillan awarded a penalty and O’Connor despatched it inside Cluxton’s right-hand post. Worse was to follow for Cluxton, whose goalkick went awry and was recycled by Mayo for Moran to level the scores with a minute remaining.
Even then the drama wasn’t done. Five minutes of injury time awaited, enough for Cluxton to be off target with the free that would have won it – his third missed free of the second half – and for Diarmuid Connolly to receive a straight red card, which rules him out of this Saturday’s replay. The match ended with the clock reading 75:47. McQuillan could have added at least another minute for injuries; not too many people will complain that he chose not to.
While Kerry will not have seen much to disturb their peace of mind, the replay will give the winners the opportunity to plane some edges ahead of the final. They’ll need it. For two teams who’d been praised for their attacking football, both had little to boast about here, Mayo in particular.
Until the occasion demanded a change of tack, the Connacht champions were content to lump the ball long to Aidan O’Shea. The problem wasn’t that he didn’t win his share but that they failed to get men up to support him. Four successive centres at one stage in the first half resulted in two going straight to Cluxton, a third being cleared and a fourth being fouled by O’Shea, isolated and harried by a posse of men in blue shirts.
Yet they started so brightly, Lee Keegan opening the scoring with a Mayo point inside a minute, before a Dublin player had touched the ball. However, they didn’t sustain this form, and while they managed six more points before the interval, all of them were frees by O’Connor.
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In contrast, the Dublin attack flowed much more smoothly. Ciaran Kilkenny kicked three points, each a fine score from distance, Bernard Brogan was a threat whenever Jim Gavin’s side got the ball in around the house and only four minutes had elapsed when the game’s first goal arrived. Paul Flynn, charging through, was pulled back in the area by Jason Doherty. The penalty was Connolly’s to take and, Connolly being Connolly, its outcome was as inevitable as death, taxes and rain. He directed it low to the left and Hennelly had no chance.
The goal was the difference between the sides at half-time, Dublin leading by 1-7 to 0-7. Diarmuid O’Connor’s splendid point from the right shortly after the restart was Mayo’s first score from play in 37 minutes and their hopes were further boosted by the introduction of Moran, who began to find space in the opposition defence.
Dublin were almost nonexistent as an attacking force for the third quarter, give or take a brief spark provided by their go-to impact sub McManamon. The catch for Mayo was that they registered five wides in the 15 minutes immediately following the resumption. As against that, former Footballer of the Year Michael Dara MacAuley departed in the 49th minute for a black-card offence, an event that didn’t help the favourites’ rhythm.
Fortunately for the Westerners, sufficient time remained for atonement. The excitement was actually only just beginning. It’ll continue next Saturday when the replay takes place, throwing in at 5pm. Mayo will spend the interim plotting to provide greater support for O’Shea. Dublin must work on their discipline in defence. Much for both camps to contemplate.
Dublin: S Cluxton; J Cooper, R O’Carroll, P McMahon; J McCarthy, C O’Sullivan, J McCaffrey (0-1); B Fenton, MD McAuley; P Flynn, C Kilkenny (0-3), D Connolly (1-2, 1-0 penalty, 0-1 free); D Rock, P Andrews (0-2), B Brogan (0-2). Subs: M Fitzsimon for O’Carroll (blood sub), 4 minutes; K McManamon (1-1) for Rock, half-time; J Small for Cooper, 43; D Bastick for McAuley, 49; A Brogan (0-1) for Andrews, 54; T Brady for Fenton, 57; E Lowndes for Bastick, 67.
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Mayo: R Hennelly; G Cafferkey, D Vaughan, K Higgins (0-1); L Keegan (0-1), C Barrett, C Boyle; S O’Shea, T Parsons; D O’Connor (0-1), A O’Shea, K McLoughlin; D Drake, C O’Connor (1-9, 1-0 penalty, 0-9 frees), J Doherty. Subs: P Durcan for Vaughan, 9 minutes; A Moran (0-2) for Drake, 44; A Freeman (0-1) for Doherty, 61; B Moran for S O’Shea, 65; M Sweeney for D O’Connor, 69.