Tomás Quinn: Backdoor could be Mayo’s key

All-Ireland football final weekend is finally here. This one took its time coming in.

Maybe it was more frantic around the capital last year when there was just a two-week lead-in after the Mayo replay. Or with Dublin back for a fourth final in six years, has the novelty worn off? Mayo, too, are in a third final in five years and while the management faces have changed the core of the players remain in place.

In the moments after their victory over Tipperary, I wondered was this the perfect way for Mayo to come into a final? In the past, they have won classic semi-finals only to underperform on the big day. Could the backdoor route and some patchy displays allow them to prepare free of the expectation they may have carried in the past?