NFL Division One/Mayo 0-10 Dublin 0-9:Mayo can never be accused of lacking a flair for the dramatic. There were scenes of minor bedlam in the passion bowl of McHale Park as the home faithful celebrated another coup against Dublin.
The combination of the sunshine and the attraction of the sky-blue city shirts encouraged 15,000 people along, and afterwards they celebrated as though it were high summer.
"A pitch invasion in April," murmured one local pressman in a tone that suggested he had now seen it all.
But this was a significant win for Mayo and it means they advance to the league semi-finals with precious little fanfare and an injury-list of glittering names. Almost inevitably, that inventory had increased by yesterday evening. David Brady damaged another part of his anatomy at a weekend training session, and, late in the first half, goalkeeper Kenneth O'Malley fractured his thumb in the act of plucking a ball from above the crossbar.
Despite these setbacks, Mayo repeated the trick of recovering from an unpromising half-time position to secure a win that was almost as beneficial to character-building as it was to their league ambitions.
"We still have an awful lot of work to do, but we are glad to get across the line by a point," said John O'Mahony. "And what has been good about the last two weeks is that, when we got to the tight finish, we could close the deal no matter how many chinks are in the armour."
There was a period in the first half, when Dublin chalked up five impressive points in succession, that made that Mayo coat of chains look inadequate. The home team were in trouble right through the lines as Dublin moved with something of their summer swiftness. Darren Magee directed proceedings at midfield, Conal Keaney gradually shaded a fascinating tussle with Keith Higgins and the Dublin defence snuffed out the Mayo attack - whose front pair of Trevor Mortimer and Austin O'Malley had been ill-served with high balls.
Through this spell Mayo simply could not get the ball as Dublin advertised the best of their game. They might have had a goal on 22 minutes when Jason Sherlock took possession at speed and supplied Kevin Bonner, who clipped a point.
Corner back David Henry ventured up field with increasing boldness and forced an important, last-gasp intervention from full back James Kilcullen, before later lashing a great chance wide when Dublin were flying. Their simplest point was probably their best - a long, inch-perfect free floated by goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton to Bernard Brogan, who sold a neat shimmy and took a fine point with his left foot.
That score put Dublin 0-8 to 0-3 to the good, and there was still five points between the teams at half-time. The one nagging thought from Dublin's perspective was that they had played a lot of football for that lead.
Still, it was surprising that they failed to score in the second half. Dublin were pinned back by the strong wind and a much more intense Mayo effort. The cause was not helped by the 39th-minute dismissal of Keaney, slightly unfortunate to pick up a second yellow.
With that thorn removed, the Mayo defence dealt comfortably with the other attackers. They turned the screw from deep.
Few teams move the ball as sweetly out of defence as Mayo, and fliers like Peader Gardiner, Liam O'Malley and Keith Higgins kept Dublin back-pedalling.
David Heaney worked his socks off and contributed two massive points in either half. The introduction of Alan Dillon greatly enhanced the structure of the Mayo front lines, and, in addition to landing a beauty of a point on 54 minutes, the Ballintubber All Star bravely won the free which led to the winning score, diving to claim a loose ball before the flailing Barry Cahill could grab it.
It was no surprise Conor Mortimer clipped the winner. The Shrule man mixed the brilliant with the baffling here, leading Mayo's wanton, second-half wide count, but also finding his range with a pair of outrageous distance strikes. There are no half-measures, and at least he cannot be accused of hiding.
Dublin kept on plugging away, and while Sherlock was for the most part obscured by Billy Joe Padden, he showed the old smarts to sneak in behind Mayo's last line with 10 minutes remaining. Bryan Cullen spotted him and delivered the perfect ball. As Sherlock bolted for goal, Keith Higgins had no option, but to foul.
With Thomas Quinn substituted, the responsibility fell to Diarmuid Connolly. The St Vincent's man had to wait while the players engaged in a kind of minor nightclub scuffle and, when order was restored, his convincing shot smashed low against David Clarke's right-hand post and across the face of the goal.
A minute later Connolly tried to atone with a fine shot on the turn, stopped by both Clarke and the crossbar.
Referee Michael Hughes added three extra minutes, but neither team could be persuaded to score again. Mayo fans greeted the final whistle with relief and happiness.
MAYO: K O'Malley; L O'Malley, J Kilcullen, K Higgins: E Devenney, BJ Padden, P Gardiner; P Harte, D Heaney (0-2); G Brady, K O'Neill, A Kilcoyne (0-1 free); C Mortimer (0-4, 3 frees), A O'Malley (0-1), A Moran (0-1). Subs: A Campbell for G Brady (33 mins), D Clarke for K O'Malley (35 mins inj), A Higgins for E Devenney (45 mins), A Dillon (0-1) for A O'Malley (46 mins), J Nallen for P Harte (59 mins).
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; D Henry, R McConnell, P Griffin; B Cahill (0-1), B Cullen, G Brennan; D Magee, C Whelan; C Moran (0-1), J Sherlock, C Keaney (0-3, 1 free); B Brogan (0-1), K Bonner (0-2), T Quinn (0-1, 50). Subs: D Connolly for T Quinn, S Ryan for C Whelan (both 59 mins), P Casey for K Bonner (60 mins), R Cosgrove for B Brogan (67 mins), C Goggins for G Brennan (70 mins).
Referee: M Hughes (Tyrone).
