EXPERT VIEW: Ciarán Walsh, Dublin full-back from the 1995 All-Ireland final
Mayo will come into the game with absolutely no fear of Dublin. They beat Dublin in the last two All-Ireland semi-finals and if you go back to 2006 where they were seven or eight points down and managed to eke out win. That was a huge result for them.
They just don’t fear the blue jersey, I think they fear the Kerry jersey and have froze on numerous occasions against them, but that won’t happen on Sunday.
With regard to Cillian O’Connor, I would definitely start him. He’s very important with the free-kicks, they missed two or three close-in frees in the semi-final and they can’t afford a repeat of that on Sunday.
I think Cillian O’Connor could be started just to take charge of the placed ball duties, bringing him on at whatever stage won’t be much benefit.
Looking at the Dublin team, Jim Gavin needs to make two changes for Sunday. Ger Brennan struggled the last day at centre-back and I would bring Cian O’Sullivan in there and play Denis Bastick at midfield. Also, at corner back, you could bring in either Kevin Nolan or Philly McMahon for Kevin O’Brien.
Dublin certainly have the stronger options on the bench than Mayo, that is Jim Gavin’s trump card. It has been a long time since Dublin can lay claim to having five or six All-Ireland medal winners on the bench.
The big duel on Sunday will be in the middle of the field. Aidan O’Shea has been outstanding thus far and Michael Dara Macauley will need to be at his very best to curb the influence of the Mayo man.
My heart is on the blue shoulder and while I would love to see Mayo win an All-Ireland, maybe next year!
