Dublin 2-17
Mayo 0-11
It's the knockout punch that everybody remembers. The one that leaves you prone on your back and out for the count, but there is no calling time early in Croke Park on a championship Sunday. You've got to get back up and keep going through the motions until the final shrill blast of the whistle puts you out of your misery.
The knockout punch was delivered to Mayo's championship ambitions when Sam Callinan hesitated for a split second thinking that the ball would go over the end line on 41 minutes. Cormac Costello showed the prodigious Ballina man that there is no space for hesitation and kept the ball in play and seconds later Colm Basquel had the ball in the back of the Mayo net for the second time.
It was that goal in combination with a run of points before it from Paul Mannion, Brian Fenton and Basquel just after the restart that had Mayo going from one down to seven in not quite the blink of eye - but not much longer than it takes to boil the kettle for a cup of tea. They may not be the Dublin of old, but there is still enough of that winning DNA in there sense when the game is there for the winning and do it.
Up to the resumption of play for the second half Mayo would have been quite happy with where they were - albeit disappointed that the conceded the only goal of the first half when Basquel made the most of their one clear goal chance after Padraig O'Hora lost the flight of the dropping bomb in and the Ballyboden St Enda's man made no mistake in firing it past Colm Reape 18 minutes in.
That goal put Dublin two up, but Mayo responded excellently whipping over the next four points to go two clear, with Tommy Conroy and Ryan O'Donoghue casing the Dublin defence and breaking their best efforts to keep them at bay with O'Donoghue finishing the first half with five (three from play ) points to his name and Conroy two.
Dublin did manage to pull themselves level thanks to a couple of points from the industrious Costello and they almost got in for a second goal after an errant Mayo pass was intercepted - the goal was kept out but the imperious James McCarthy nipped into sweep the ball over the bar to put Dessie Farrell's men in front at the break.
Mayo will feel hard done by not to have resisted their own major in the opening half, when Jordan Flynn lashed the ball to the back of the net from close range, but he was adjudged to have fouled the ball as the got up from the ground after stumbling under pressure. Even after looking at replays there are plenty who feel referee David Gough got that one wrong.
The second half was teed up nicely for another enthralling encounter it seemed. But it was far from that as the Dublin rained down punishment from the get go and when Basquel hit the back of the net for the second time, there was only going to be one team left standing come the final whistle. Mayo did try to get themselves back into the game and had Eoghan McLaughlin not seen his effort from close range crash back off the post and finish up in the back of the net, it would have cut the gap to four points with plenty of time to go or if Diarmuid O'Connor (who put in another battling showing ) was able to find the narrowest of gaps between Stephen Cluxton and his goal it could have sparked something - but there was no coming back for Mayo this time.
Dublin reeled through the second half at their ease, squeezing Mayo on their kick-outs and putting huge pressure on them all over the park, with McCarthy running the game in the middle third and his teammates slotting over points at their ease until the conclusion of the contest. For Mayo it's back to the homestead for the next few months, while Dublin go on and look for another All Ireland title hoping they'll get a chance to deliver a few more knockout blows over the next month.
Scorers
Mayo: Ryan O’Donoghue 0-5 (2fs ), Tommy Conroy 0-2, Paddy Durcan, Jordan Flynn, Colm Reape (45 ), and Aidan O’Shea (f ) 0-1 each.
Dublin: Colm Basquel 2-2, Cormac Costello 0-5 (3fs ), James McCarthy, Paul Mannion, and Con O’Callaghan 0-2 each, Ciarán Kilkenny, Paddy Small, Brian Fenton, and Dean Rock 0-1 each.
Mayo: Colm Reape; Pádraig O’Hora, David McBrien, Sam Callinan; Paddy Durcan, Stephen Coen, Jack Coyne; Mattie Ruane, Diarmuid O’Connor; Eoghan McLaughlin, Jack Carney, Jordan Flynn; Tommy Conroy, Aidan O’Shea, Ryan O’Donoghue. Subs: Enda Hession for O’Hora (32 ), Cillian O’Connor for O’Shea (46 ), Kevin McLoughlin for McLaughlin (53 ), James Carr for Ruane (58 ), Donnacha McHugh for Coen (59 ), Jason Doherty for Callinan (70 ).
Dublin: Stephen Cluxton; Eoin Murchan, David Byrne, Michael Fitzsimons; John Small, Brian Howard, Lee Gannon; James McCarthy, Brian Fenton; Niall Scully, Seán Bugler, Cormac Costello; Paul Mannion, Con O’Callaghan, Colm Basquel. Subs: Jack McCaffrey for Murchan (46 ), Ciarán Kilkenny for Bugler (47 ), Paddy Small for Scully (54 ), Tom Lahiff for Costello (65 ), Dean Rock for Basquel (70 ).
Referee: David Gough (Meath ).
