The scenic route has taken Mayo through some unfamiliar territory in this year's Football Championship Qualifiers and following their harrowing encounter with Limerick two weeks ago, Mayo will be glad to have seen the back of Tipperary after a riveting contest at Cusack Park in Ennis on Saturday evening.
The burden of favourites has always rested heavily on Mayo teams and once again it threatened to suffocate them on a humid evening as Tipperary, hosting a litany of changes from the match programme, mustered up what resources they had left after the hammering from Cork, before bowing out of this year's championship with dignity.
They laboured hard and long but it wasn't enough against a Mayo team peppered with a lot of experienced players, and, in fairness, Mayo were full value for their four-point win, but they left this game far too long in the melting pot and it was cool heads, particularly in defence, which kept the show on the road for another round at least.
Pat Holmes's decision to recall the prodigal son of Mayo football, Kieran McDonald, had been questioned during the week but his decision was vindicated, McDonald was sprung as early as the sixth minute of the second half, with the distress signals clearly sounding in the attack, and his contribution of four points, and general work, proved invaluable in a contest that was level at 1-13 to 0-16, with 12 minutes remaining.
McDonald left his trademark calling card, a deft effort with the outside of his left boot, deep into injury time to give Mayo the score that even left a late Tipperary goal worthless.
However, once again the man who left the biggest mark on this game was Tipperary's talented forward, Declan Browne.
He was only picking up crumbs when playing at full-forward, where David Heaney had his measure, but, in the second-half, he was moved to better grazing ground in the corner where he gave Kenneth Mortimer a torrid time, adding six second half points - three from play - to his single effort in the first half.
That first half saw Mayo once again lose their way for a lengthy spell.
They began well with points from James Horan and Colm McMenamon before Benny Hickey got Tipperary off the mark after seven minutes.
David Brady and David Tiernan controlled midfield early on, but gradually the powerfully-built Eamon Hanrahan and Seán Maher took over, and Peter Lambert was very much the threat up front where the Mayo defence looked a lot more secure when James Nallen came on in the second half.
But the wake-up call came for Mayo in the 12th minute, Browne finding Lambert on the edge of the square, and he drilled it low past the advancing Peter Burke.
A Browne free immediately followed and Tipperary were two clear after 15 minutes. By half-time, Mayo had more than reeled the Munster men in to take a three point lead - 1-6 to 0-12 - the vital scores coming from the experienced James Horan and Stephen Carolan, the latter the scorer of three first half points.
Browne and Lambert had clipped a point each off that lead inside three minutes as Tipperary started the second half in whirlwind fashion but Mayo should have opened up some serious daylight when a long ball from McMenamon, now foraging at midfield, found Horan inside the Tipperary cover, and it was only after he fisted the ball over the bar he realised he was unlikely to get a better goal scoring opportunity in this year's championship.
It left Tipp in the game, and three points, two superb solo efforts from play, from Browne, had Tipp on level terms in the 51st minute. It was level on two more occasions, before Mayo finally regained the upper hand in the troubled midfield department, where David Brady, who faded late in the first half, remerged as an inspirational figure.
The first of his two second half points gave Mayo back the lead, McDonald adding a free and Brady with his second finally putting Mayo three points clear, with seven minutes remaining.
McDonald scored a gem from play as Tipperary began to run out of steam, and although Browne replied with a free, with two minutes of normal time remaining, McDonald raced into space to take a pass and fire Mayo safely into the quarter finals and announce he is back, hopefully to stay this time.
HOW THEY LINED OUT
MAYO: 1 P Burke; 2 K Mortimer, 3 D Heaney, 4 P Coyne; 5 N Conneely, 6 A Roche, 7 A Higgins; 8 D Tiernan, 9 D Brady; 10 C McMenamon, 11 T Mortimer, 12 J Gill; 13 S Carolan, 14 B Maloney, 15 J Horan. Subs: J Nallen for Roche (inj 38 mins); K McDonald for Gill (41 mins); M McNicholas for Tiernan (58 mins); R Connelly (64 mins) for K Mortimer S Fitzmaurice for McMenamon (68 mins).
Yellow cards: A Roche, D Brady, C McMenamon, J Horan, S Fitzmaurice, M McNicholas
TIPPERARY: 1 P Ryan; 2 S Hennessy, 3 N Kelly, D Byrne; 5 M England, 6 K Mulryan, 7 W Morrissey; 8 E Hanrahan, 9 S Maher; 10 P Cahill, 11 F O'Callaghan, 12 D O'Brien; 13 P Lambert, 14 D Browne, 15 B Hickey. Subs: N Fitzgerald for Maher (half-time), M Spillane for O'Brien (45 mins).
Yellow cards: K Mulryan, E Hanrahan, F O'Callaghan
