Dublin v Mayo: All-Ireland SFC final preview
Monday 19 September 2016 11:22, UK
The 2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship has a fitting final as Mayo and defending champions Dublin battle it out for the Sam Maguire Cup, live on Sky Sports 2 HD on Sunday from 2.30pm.
In our championship preview in May, we predicted a Dublin v Mayo final. Admittedly, we thought Stephen Rochford's side would get there by claiming a sixth Connacht title but Galway put an end to that in the provincial semi-final.
For Mayo fans, the qualifiers were an enjoyable experience with games against Fermanagh, Kildare and Westmeath getting them back to Croke Park and a quarter-final game against Tyrone.
The narrow one-point win, on a scoreline of 0-13 to 0-12, set up a semi-final against surprise package Tipperary. James Horan called it experience versus wonder and experience told with Mayo, based off a strong defensive foundation, winning by 2-13 to 0-14.
Mayo are the first side from the qualifiers to get to the All-Ireland final since both Down and Cork achieved it in 2010.
For Dublin, the defending All-Ireland champions had another easy stroll to a sixth consecutive Leinster title, defeating Westmeath 2-19 to 0-10 in the final.
Dublin recorded a five-point victory over Donegal in the quarter-finals and three weeks ago, they were involved in an epic game against old rivals Kerry where they came back from three points down with 10 minutes to go to win by 0-22 to 2-14.
For other teams, that performance by Kerry should give a few ideas on how to beat Dublin but for Mayo, they know only too well what they need to do. They have their own experience from last year's All-Ireland semi-final where they came back from six points down in the 63rd minute to force a replay. They fell well short in that replay though, losing 3-15 to 1-14.
Kerry's full-forward line scored 2-6 from play against Dublin. Their full-back line can be targeted and isolated with the right tactics and timing, however, stopping their attacking options is another story. This team have eight to 10 attacking players who would walk into any other county side in the county and immediately improve it.
Limiting the options for Stephen Cluxton is one of the issues Mayo face. A remarkable stat is that over 40 per cent of the defending champions' scores this year have come from a Cluxton kick-out. Another remarkable stat is that Dean Rock has nearly a 90 per cent accuracy rate from his efforts on the scoreboard.
Dublin's winning record
This will either be Dublin's 26th All-Ireland title or Mayo's fourth. It is the 13th time the sides have met in the championship, Dublin leading 7-2 with three draws. Two of these games were in All-Ireland finals, with Dublin winning in 1921 and in 2013. The rest of the games have all come in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
Fourteen members of this Mayo squad played in the 2013 final, and 13 played in the 2012 decider. Going back to the 2006 final against Kerry and there are four survivors from that final (Keith Higgins, Alan Dillon, Barry Moran and Andy Moran). Andy Moran and Dillon played in the 2004 final defeat to Kerry as well. There are a lot of devastated All-Ireland final dressing room memories in this squad.
For Dublin, there's a combined 42 All-Ireland senior medals from the starting 15 and subs from the semi-final win over Kerry three weeks ago. This present Dublin side know how to win and are without a doubt one of the best in the modern era.
However, there is a strange lack of love for this Dublin side from the rest of the country. Respect for the Dubs is definitely present but it's borderline begrudging and blended in with finger-pointing for all that is wrong with the growing gulf in standards of Gaelic football. The misplaced notion is they are almost too good for an amateur sport.
It is not Dublin's fault Meath have regressed so far that Westmeath can now beat them and the Leinster Championship has the same intensity of a challenge match for the Dubs.
Six games is all it takes for them to win an All-Ireland but nothing is mentioned of the shorter runs Kerry have had to go up to Croke Park and bring Sam back to the Kingdom.
Dublin are the standard bearers for Gaelic football now, with a squad and management with arguably the most professional approach to an amateur game.
Mayo's final curse
Most neutrals will want Mayo to win on Sunday. From regrouping in the qualifiers to seeing out the game against Tyrone, it looks like they finally have the belief and the mental strength to take on the likes of Dublin and win, which wasn't always there before.
For the year that's in it, it would be apt for Dublin to win back-to-backs titles and claim their place as one of the best teams in GAA history. As William Butler Yeats wrote back in 1916, "A terrible beauty is born."
For Mayo, they are standing on the shoulders of giants here. The giant usually came in shades of green with Meath, Kerry and Donegal all shattering their dreams in finals. It was a blue coloured giant in the shape of Dublin in 2013 and if Mayo are to have any chance of finally burying the curse of 1951, they'll need to do more than stand on the shoulders, they'll need to deliver a knock-out punch to the giant on Sunday.
Mayo will need to play the perfect game, limit the influence of Cluxton's kick-outs, get in the face of Diarmuid Connolly, minimise their wides and eliminate needless frees that Rock isn't missing this season.
Everyone with a passing interest in GAA knows this. Maintaining and executing this game plan over 70 odd minutes is the problem for every side that Dublin face, with most failing.
To be the best, you have to beat the best. We'll find out around 5pm on Sunday if Mayo are standing tall with the title of All-Ireland champions on their shoulders after a gap of 65 years.
Watch Dublin v Mayo live on Sky Sports 2 HD on Sunday from 2.30pm. Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract.
