Dubs Fail In Late Comeback

GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi-Final: Dublin 0-16 Mayo 0-19

Mayo dethroned All-Ireland champions Dublin and booked their place in the September 23 showpiece against Donegal with a thrilling three-point victory at Croke Park on Sunday.

However, the Connacht champions just about hung on to claim a deserved victory in a nerve-jangling finale, as they held off a stirring Dublin comeback to record a memorable win.

After a superb first-half performance, James Horan's side led by 0-12 to 0-6 and increased their advantage to 0-17 to 0-7 by the 51st minute.

With Dublin in disarray to that point, Kevin McManamon and Eoghan O'Gara came on to finally add some spark to reigning champions' attack. Mayo tired after an incredible effort and Dublin hit a purple patch that yielded the next eight points to reduce the gap to just two in the 67th minute.

David Clarke made a brilliant save to deny Bernard Brogan and Dublin a goal that would have levelled the game, before Cillian O'Connor settled his side's nerves with a crucial free in the third of seven minutes' added time.

Then, at the very death, after the Westerners had heroically repelled everything Dublin could throw at them, sub Seamus O'Shea clipped over what proved to be the decisive score in a gripping finale.

It was no less than Mayo deserved, but their final quarter collapse was truly alarming, their disciplined defending and crisp tackling for much of the game to that point betraying them in the closing stages, as Bernard Brogan slung over a string of frees for fouls just in front of the Dublin goalmouth.

In the end, it mattered little, as Horan's charges rediscovered their nerve at the very death, with O'Connor particularly impressive as those around him wobbled, to seal a place in an All-Ireland final for the first time since 2006.  

Mayo lost Lee Keegan to a dislocated finger in the 17th minute, a significant loss given their other wing-back, Colm Boyle, failed to start due to a virus.

At that stage, Mayo were already 0-3 to 0-2 ahead. Two early Bernard Brogan frees gave the All-Ireland champions the perfect start, but their troubles were evident very early in the game.

Cillian O'Connor landed two excellently-struck 45s before Michael Conroy hit the first point of the game from play on 13 minutes, curling over a fine shot to settle his side's obvious early nerves.

It was then that Dublin spurned their first goal chance of the game. Bernard Brogan benefited from some hesitancy from Donal Vaughan to find Paul Flynn on the edge of the square, but the Fingallians man's curled shot, which had David Clarke well beaten, rattled the bar and bounced to safety.

With Andy Moran out injured, the onus fell on Alan Dillon to step up to the mark as Mayo's chief creative force. He was excellent in the first half and finished a brilliant Mayo move on 20 minutes before setting up Barry Moran for yet another soon after. Mayo were 0-5 to 0-2 ahead and Dublin were yet to score from play.

Diarmuid Connolly righted that alarming statistic on 23 minutes with a fine effort off his left foot. However, there was little cohesion to the Dublin attack, with Michael Darragh Macauley the only Sky Blue forward willing to take on any responsibility, his driving runs from centre-forward a constant source danger for the Mayo defence.

Bernard Brogan was struggling without his brother, Alan, and was well beaten early on in his personal duel with Ger Cafferkey, while 19-year-old Ciarán Kilkenny showed flashes of his precocity with two fine points in the first half.

Feeney, minutes after coming on, created a second score for his side with another fine foray forward, feeding Dillon to finish on 23 minutes. Connolly and Kilkenny reduced the gap to one point, but Mayo owned the last five minutes of the half and finished with a brilliant flourish.

O'Connor dropped over a third 45, before Enda Varley, the man who replaced Andy Moran in the side, got his name on the score sheet, before Mayo hit four points in four minutes.

Aidan O'Shea was superb in the closing stages, while Kevin McLoughlin's second point gave the Westerners a six-point lead at the break. Dublin's first half performance was just about summed up when Connolly sent a shot hopelessly wide, his effort highlighting the lack of fluidity in the champions' attack.

Dublin were badly in need of a leader, with much of their first half play lacking any real thrust and direction - the excellent Macauley aside. They got a timely boost when Alan Brogan, who failed to start because of a groin injury, came on for Bryan Cullen at half-time.

Dublin opened the second half with a sense of purpose, as Connolly forced a great foot block from the Mayo goalkeeper, Clarke. A Cluxton 45 cut the gap to five, but Mayo then took over for much of the third quarter as Dublin's challenge completely crumbled.

Mayo repeatedly forced turnovers with ferocious tackles and broke up the field at pace to punish the Dubs' sloppy play, Cillian O'Connor hit two frees and another from play, while Dillon and Feeney also chipped in as Mayo hit five on the trot to lead by 0-17 to 0-7.

The Footballer of the Year, Alan Brogan, was taken off in the 53rd minute, clearly unfit, the move having backfired. McManamon was brought on and his direct running, along with that of another second half sub, O'Gara, had the Mayo defence in trouble.

Cluxton started the Dublin fightback with a 45 in the 52nd minute, before Flynn hit an inspirational score and Bernard Brogan hit three frees in a row. But Dublin desperately needed a goal and Bernard Brogan spurned their best chance with three minutes of normal time left when he collected Kilkenny's pass and drilled a shot which the superb Clarke went full stretch to stop.

Although Flynn added a second score seconds later to reduce the gap to just one point, Dublin had missed their big chance. Mayo didn't help themselves either, with Cillian O'Connor and Michael Conroy both missing great chances before O'Connor finally stopped the rot with an excellent free.

Mayo had weathered the storm and O'Shea tapped over the clincher five minutes into added time to seal the victory.