Mayo win demands perspective but signs are positive

Looking at Division 1 over the past 10 years, six points has generally been enough for teams to survive, Cork being the exception in 2016 when they finished with six but went down on scoring difference.

If we are going on that benchmark, then Mayo are well over halfway to their main goal of retaining their spot in the ruthless arena that is the top flight of the Allianz Football League after a dramatic win over All-Ireland champions Dublin in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park last Saturday night.

The atmosphere was building all day across the county town and the Dubs, as they always do, travelled down in big numbers. Castlebar was always a happy hunting ground for Dublin over the past decade, having not lost in MacHale Park since 2012, and it always had the added bonus of fans being able to get change back from a fiver when they would order a pint from some of legendary pubs in the town like Mick Byrne’s, the Bungalow, Flynn’s, Tolster’s and the Cobweb. Both those facts are now no longer the case.

Mayo fans were already making their way to the stadium at least an hour before the gates opened at 6pm as anticipation was reaching fever pitch for the Green and Red’s first home game of 2024 and the roar from both sets of supporters when Mayo and Dublin emerged from the tunnel would bring a smile to even the coldest of hearts.

Sadly, that excitement ended seconds after referee Fergal Kelly threw the ball up as the opening quarter was an utter snoozefest. Dublin, as we’ve become accustomed to even more so under Dessie Farrell’s reign, appeared quite happy to play the sideways passing game with Mayo camped inside their own 45-metre line. Their own boss Kevin McStay was himself at a loss to explain why Mayo were so flat.

Dublin raced into a 0-6 to 0-2 lead and you would be forgiven for beginning to suffer flashbacks of Mayo’s mauling at the hands of Dublin in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final. It needed a spark, an injection of pace. To be more specific, Mayo needed a leader and once captain Paddy Durcan made his first run through the Dublin backline, the half changed for the better. Attacks became more frequent as Dublin retreated into their shell, while Ryan O’Donoghue, Paul Towey and Bob Tuohy drew Mayo, somehow, level by half-time.

Yet the start of the second-half was a near-mirror of the first and it took O’Donoghue once more to inject some fresh life into the Mayo attack. If Durcan was man-of-the-match, the Belmullet ace was a close second. He is undoubtedly Mayo’s primary force in attack.

That said, he cannot do it alone. It was a big chance for Paul Towey but bar a great score in the first-half, the game largely passed hm by and he was replaced by Tommy Conroy. Bob Tuohy played in fits and starts while Aidan O’Shea was well marshalled by the Dublin backline, with a wayward free from the right wing in the second-half summing up the Breaffy’s man evening before he was hooked for Cillian O’Connor.

O’Donoghue, Tommy Conroy, Fergal Boland, Jordan Flynn or Jack Carney would have seemed likely options for Mayo to find the net but the goal that never looked like arriving came from the unlikeliest of sources. Having never scored a goal for Mayo at minor, U21 or senior level before the weekend, Stephen Coen palming in Jordan Flynn’s delivery with 18 minutes remaining took everyone in the ground by surprise – the Dublin team in particular.

Con O’Callaghan had a quiet evening by his standards but he kicked a pearler on 68 minutes to nudge the visitors back ahead. The lack of composure coming down the home stretch was poor by both teams as O’Connor and Flynn missed chances for Mayo while Paddy Small, Lorcan O’Dell, Ciarán Kilkenny, Killian O’Gara and Greg McEneaney also fluffed relatively straightforward opportunities.

Then the roar of the night arrived after a brilliant bit of quick-thinking by O’Donoghue from a self-won free wide on the right found Fergal Boland at the D. The Aghamore man was brilliant against Galway and while he found time and space more restricted on this occasion, his point ensured maximum points for McStay after two games.

It has been a great start, but perspective is needed. Dublin have to welcome back Stephen Cluxton, David Byrne, Mick Fitzsimons, Brian Howard, James McCarthy, Eoin Murchan and Paul Mannion to the fold and should Mayo and Dublin cross paths later in the year, the All-Ireland champions will be a different beast altogether.

From Mayo’s point of view, no one should be getting carried away at this early stage but signs are good nonetheless. Jack Coyne, Rory Brickenden, Sam Callinan, Paddy Durcan and David McBrien were excellent throughout, with Colm Reape’s goal never troubled. Should Eoghan McLaughlin make a swift return from injury, McStay’s defence is beginning to take shape while the pairing of Jordan Flynn and Jack Carney in the middle is blossoming. Once Diarmuid O’Connor and Matthew Ruane return to full fitness, Mayo’s middle third will be as strong as any other county.

Bigger tests await later in the year but before that, it’s Kerry in two weeks in Tralee. Get a result there and McStay holds all the cards for the remainder of the league. How he plays them will be of great interest.