Quinn comes good for late late Dubs

Dublin 2-13 Mayo 1-15

St Vincent's marksman Tomas Quinn proved to be 'the mighty Quinn' tonight at Parnell Park, as his injury-time '45 handed new boss Paul Caffrey the spoils in his first competitive game in charge.

Dublin won out in a titanic Allianz National Football League Division 1A clash as the Metropolitans overcame the first-half sin-binning of goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton and Alan Costello's 63rd-minute fisted goal for the visitors, to gain revenge for the westerners' 1-10 to 0-03 defeat of twelve months ago.

They raced into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead after a frantic first 10 minutes. Peadar Andrews, a late call-up for St Brigid's club mate Barry Cahill, began their forward assault with a 30-second score.

David Henry, 1995 All-Ireland medallist Robbie Boyle and Ciaran Whelan tagged on the others, with 2004 All-Ireland finalists Mayo relying on debutante John Prenty for their opening point.

Dublin's 7th-minute goal was hardly a thing of beauty, but nevertheless it catapulted them towards a 1-6 to 0-8 half-time.

Senan Connell's long ball created havoc in the Mayo rearguard. Quinn rose to challenge both goalkeeper Fintan Ruddy and defender David Heaney to the high ball, which glanced off Heaney into his own net.

Efforts from James Gill, Andy Moran and Conor Mortimer reduced the deficit to a clear goal on the quarter-hour.

Tipperary referee Paddy Russell banished Cluxton to the line for a drag down in his area.

Incredibly Dublin captain Paddy Christie stepped into the breach to save Mayo skipper Ciaran McDonald's spot kick, and with Bryan Murphy on for Cluxton, Caffrey's team were back in it.

David O'Callaghan hit their first point for 15 minutes, Munnelly snapped back and then Whelan and McDonald, who hit 0-5 in all, swapped the closing scores of a fiery first-half.

John Maughan's side wasted little time in drawing back level as Mortimer snapped over on 37 minutes for a 1-6 to 0-9 scoreline.

The Dubs enjoyed another purple patch after the break. Jason Sherlock and O'Callaghan combined for Quinn to guide a rising 41st-minute shot beyond Ruddy.

Substitute Alan Brogan and Connell buffered that lead to 2-8 to 0-9, but yet again the tide swung back to the visitors.

Man-of-the-match McDonald hit three of the next five points - including a stunning left-wing sideline - and it was his long ball in with seven minutes remaining that allowed substitute Costello the space to flick beyond Murphy and square it up at 2-11 to 1-14.

Mayo had the edge now as Mortimer ended a five-man move with a point seconds later, only for Bryan Cullen to reply almost instantly.

With Costello binned for a cynical pull-back, Ruddy's injury time save from Sherlock offered Quinn a late chance to win it - and he did, with a curling right-footed shot.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; P Andrews, P Christie (Capt), S O'Shaughnessy; P Casey, B Cullen, P Griffin; S Ryan, C Whelan; D Henry, J Sherlock, S Connell; D O'Callaghan, R Boyle, T Quinn. Subs used: A Brogan for Boyle (42 mins), R Cosgrove for Brogan (58), D Lally for Henry (65)

MAYO: F Ruddy; P Kelly, D Heaney, L O'Malley; G Mullins, J Nallen, P Gardiner; J Gill, J Kilcullen; A Moran, C McDonald (Capt), A Kilcoyne; C Mortimer, D Munnelly, J Prenty. Subs used: K Higgins for Heaney (45 mins), C Moran for Mullins (47), BJ Padden for Munnelly (53), A Costello for Moran (56)

Sin-bin: Stephen Cluxton (Dublin) (19 mins, replaced by Bryan Murphy); Alan Costello (Mayo) (71 mins, replaced by Alan Roche)

Referee: Paddy Russell (Tipperary)