Where Dublin dissented, Mayo delivered...

One of the most surprising aspects of last weekend’s drawn All-Ireland semi-final wasn’t so much that Dublin were reeled in when seven points up with over an hour gone, but that they still appear to be carrying the scars of last year’s semi- final defeat to Donegal.

If they had truly recovered from the sucker punch they got this time last year, would they, for example, have played Paul Flynn as deep as he was last Sunday? Granted, Flynn’s deep-lying position and his long raking diagonal balls were directly responsible for five first half points, and it was his run from deep that led to Dublin’s first-half penalty. But apart from his poor attempt at a point in the 63rd minute, when it hardly appeared to matter, Flynn never really threatened the Mayo goal at any stage the last day.

Stephen Cluxton and Michael Darragh Macauley, the other two thirds of the Dublin triumvirate who were expected to raise their game for Mayo, also had days they would rather forget. At this stage, there is a legitimate question to be asked in relation to the two principal drivers in Dublin’s last All-Ireland success: do they have it in them this year to lead from the front again?