Mayo bid to end 10-year replay hex
It is the county’s third replay in as many SFC seasons but they have to go back to their 2006 All-Ireland quarter-final against Laois for their last replay victory. Laois led by two with two minutes of normal time remaining of the drawn game but it was Conor Mortimer who sent over the equaliser in additional time. In the replay, Mortimer and Alan Dillon were to the fore in keeping Mick O’Dwyer’s side at arm’s length.
In the 30 years between Dublin and Mayo’s 1985 All-Ireland semi-final replay and last year’s equivalent, Dublin have played two more replays than their final opponents, three coming in 1991 during their epic Leinster preliminary round saga with Meath.
Last year’s win over Mayo was their first replay success since 2002 when they saw off Donegal to claim an All-Ireland semi-final spot against Armagh. In between, they lost the 2005 quarter-final to would-be All-Ireland champions Tyrone in which Owen Mulligan scored 1-7, two points coming from frees.
Not since 1992 when they overcame Galway at the second time of asking in a first round game have Mayo had a replay in the Connacht championship. Dublin’s previous provincial replay took place in 2000 when they lost the Leinster final to Kildare, 2-11 to 0-12. Current manager Jim Gavin started both the drawn and replay matches. There is no deep search of the archives required to discover Mayo’s last final replay was 20 years ago against Meath.
However, a trawl is needed to find Dublin’s, which came in 1895 against Cork when they won. However, the game was not played until the following year.
