Mayo’s rearguard can be Silas Marner to Donegal’s Scrooge

Final debate: Is the Mayo defence as mean as Donegal’s?

The minefield Donegal negotiated to reach next Sunday’s showdown has been considerably more treacherous than Mayo’s path.

Just as Cork and Kerry did, Dublin and Down made appearances in two of the previous All-Ireland finals but Donegal’s victories over the former pair were more considerable than Mayo’s against the latter couple.