GAA: Dublin and Mayo's path to the football final

And so it is. Just like you said it would be. Life goes easy on me. Most of the time.

Damien Rice didn't have Dublin GAA in mind when he wrote The Blower's Daughter (they lost to Meath in the Leinster final and Kerry in the All-Ireland quarter-finals in 2001, the year he wrote the song).

However, if Dublin football fans lived their lives to a soundtrack, it would be on repeat most of the time.

Life has been easy for them for the last few years. They have won the Leinster title for 12 of the last 13 years, including the last seven, are unbeaten in 21 Leinster games and they have won Sam Maguire four times in the last six years. On Sunday, they are aiming to make it three-in-a-row.

To most, they are simply an unstoppable machine, so far ahead of everyone else and have a strength in depth that means Jim Gavin can bring on the likes of Bernard Brogan, Paul Flynn, Eoghan O'Gara, Michael Darragh Macauley, Kevin McManamon and Diarmuid Connolly, as he has done over the quarter and semi-finals.

The fear they impose on the opposition usually means they have won before the ball has even been thrown in. Like a pack of lions, they prey on the weak and show no mercy. The relentless attacks and scoring against Westmeath in the Leinster semi-final, long after the game ended as a contest, was an example of how ruthless this Dublin side are.

If that was an underage game, you'd be taking off your best players to not humiliate the opposition. The beautiful problem for Jim Gavin is the players on his bench would be an automatic starter for any other side in the country.

It is perhaps ironic that the toughest game Dublin have faced on the way to another All-Ireland final was their first game, against Carlow in the Leinster quarter-finals, back on June 3.

Dublin played nowhere near the standard they set for themselves but won 0-19 to 0-07 after Carlow had a player sent off.

However, the major issue from the game resulted in Diarmuid Connolly getting a 12-week ban for 'Minor interference with a linesman'. It meant the Dubs were without their best player until the All-Ireland semi-final.

It's also a fair reflection on the state of the competitiveness of Gaelic football that next to no one expected any team other than Dublin to be in that second semi-final as it was the Leinster champions path to the final.

In the Leinster semi-final, the scoreline of Dublin 4-29 0-10 Westmeath is perhaps all you need to know.

Kildare were the next victims to fall at Dublin's feet, losing 1-17 to 2-23 in the Leinster final. Con O'Callaghan was the star of the show with 0-12, including 0-06 from frees after Dean Rock was black carded in the first half.

The Dubs eased into an eighth consecutive All-Ireland semi-final with a comfortable 1-19 to 0-12 win over Monaghan.

Leading 0-11 to 0-03 at half-time, Dublin did not even need to get into second gear. They simply just took their time and won frees that Rock hit over with ease. Rock finished the game with 1-08, 0-08 from placed balls.

It was onto the semi-finals and another Ulster team, this time in the shape of the provincial champions Tyrone.

Dublin never looked in trouble throughout the game and once Con O'Callaghan got their first goal in the fifth minute, it was, at times, like a training session for the champions as they ran out 2-17 to 0-11 winners.

While it has been a pleasant stress-free summer for the Dubs, Mayo have put their supporters through a lot of hardship.

This is nothing new for them but this year especially, the Mayo team have decided to really test the hearts and minds of a county that only really knows failure.

They started in Connacht well by beating Sligo 2-14 to 0-11 but in the provincial semi-final, they again lost to Galway 1-11 to 0-15 after Keith Higgins got sent off.

This set them on the qualifiers route and a game against Derry in Castlebar was the first outing.

Derry were leading 0-12 to 0-10 with five minutes to go but Mayo got back into the lead with a point from Paddy Durcan and 1-01 from Conor Loftus. However, two minutes into injury time, Mark Lynch rose higher than David Clarke and flicked a long ball to the back of the net to send the game to extra time.

Despite losing Durcan to a red card, Mayo pulled away in the second period of extra time to win out 2-21 to 1-13.

In the third round of the qualifiers, they went down to Cusack Park in Ennis to face Clare but ran out easy 2-14 to 0-13 winners.

It was back to the drama for their supporters in the fourth round as they again let a lead slip deep in injury time and had to go to extra-time against Cork in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick.

Cillian O'Connor was the hero with 0-11 but after scoring a goal as the clock hit 70 minutes, Cork's Luke Connolly forced extra-time with a 47 metre free in the 77th minute.

Cork were leading 2-19 to 0-24 at the break in extra-time but points from Higgins, Diarmuid O'Connor and a 45 from Cillian O'Connor sealed the win.

It was back to Croke Park for Mayo and this time it would be the Connacht champions Roscommon standing in their way.

Roscommon started amazingly and were 2-02 to 0-01 up after only 12 minutes. Mayo needed Lee Keegan to turn on the style in order to rescue them with 1-03 by half-time as Mayo went in a point up.

Even though Mayo only scored 0-04 in the second half, it took a Donie Smith free in the fourth minute of injury time to force the replay.

That replay was set for the Irish bank holiday Monday and Mayo made no mistake this time, winning 4-19 to 0-09 to set up a semi-final against Kerry.

In an epic first game, it took a Paddy Durcan point in injury time to force a replay, 2-14 apiece.

Mayo manager Stephen Rochford played Aidan O'Shea on Kieran Donaghy but it was Donaghy who got the better of O'Shea and played a hand in 2-05 for Kerry.

In the replay, Mayo won 2-16 to 0-17 to record their first win over Kerry in 21 years. The Connacht side were better in every department and O'Shea frustrated Donaghy enough to get Donaghy sent off in injury time for punching the Breaffy man.

Mayo are back in their fourth final in six years and they are getting better with each game.

Sunday will be the 15th time the sides have met in Championship football, with Dublin leading eight to two, with four draws.

Four of these games were in All-Ireland finals, with Dublin winning in 1921 on a scoreline of 1-9 to 0-2. In 2013, Dublin edged Mayo on a scoreline of 2-12 to 1-14 and last year, the two sides had to go to a replay to be separated.

The drawn game finished Dublin 2-09 to 0-15 for Mayo and in the replay, it was a one point win for Dublin 1-15 to 1-14. The rest of the games have all come in the All-Ireland semi-final.

All eyes will be on Croke Park on Sunday. Mayo have revenge on their minds. Maybe Damien Rice was thinking about Mayo's curse with his last few lines of The Blower's Daughter…

Did I say that I loathe you?

Did I say that I want to leave it all behind?

The All-Ireland SFC final between Dublin and Mayo will be live on Sky Sports Arena from 2.30pm on Sunday, throw-in at 3.30pm. For those on the move you can get news, views and updates by heading to www.skysports.com/GAA or follow us on Twitter @SkySportsGAA