Dublin look like they have one trick too many for rejuvenated Mayo

• Published date: 19 December 2020
• Author: Seán Moran
• Date: 19 December 2020

The dogged body of work that saw Mayo, frequently underrated, go blade-close to scalping Dublin in nearly all of those matches is somewhat undermined by last year's blow-out in the All-Ireland semi-final, which ended in double digits.

It does look like an outlier, though. On each occasion that Mayo recorded big wins in 2019, against Galway in the qualifiers and Donegal in the quarter-finals, they had to face Kerry and Dublin within a week and were simply unable to find the gas to keep going.

This year actually is different. James Horan has a rookie on every line of the pitch, which whatever about the 'sink or swim' implications has given great energy to the team and they were genuinely impressive against Tipperary in the semi-final.

They've also had a conventional two weeks of rest and are unlikely to be out on their feet by the second half, as happened the last time the counties met.

There has been much focus on the 10 goal chances they coughed up but many of those arose by a stage - and a pretty early stage at that - when the match had lost all competitive tension. Apart from that, Mayo hadn't conceded a goal all championship.

Have they any other advantages?

Any attack that puts up a record score for an All-Ireland semi-final is clearly doing a number of things right.

Cillian O'Connor, setting new scoring records and showing the benefits of a good break, Aidan O'Shea, far more focused on full forward than previously, and Tommy Conroy, a livewire corner forward with pace have formed a strong collective.

Advantage

They have no support. This sounds forlorn but both O'Connor and O'Shea in pre-match interviews have referred to the empty stadium in even-handed terms, acknowledging the intensity of their supporters while also accepting the advantage of taking the temperature down a few notches.

One strength they have always had is the fitness and conditioning to go toe-toe with Dublin when all else is even and unlike last year when the Dubs were able to field a shadow team the week before the semi-final.

Another less familiar advantage is that Dublin have year one management. Dessie Farrell and selectors haven't so far had to strategise on the line under pressure - making early switches or compiling easily communicated 'hacks' in the dressingroom to fix system failures.

The addition of recently retired Darren Daly to the backroom is an interesting move, as the dependable former defender had already caught the attention of Jim Gavin's management and was...