Mayo on song as Dublin hit a bum note in Croke Park yet again

ARE Mayo that good or are Dublin that poor? While we will probably get a more accurate answer to that come the end of the league, beating Dublin on their own patch once more is still something to revel in.

For personal reasons, I was watching this match from the comfort of my couch (credit to all who travelled given the storms battering the country). As I wrote in last week’s column, I was expecting a close contest and Mayo’s biggest test to date. The former was accurate until Mayo’s second goal while the latter never came to fruition at all. Like that brilliant Saturday evening back in the August, when Mayo posed the questions, Dublin did not have the answers.

While I still don’t believe that Dublin are as bad as they are being made out to be – the returns of James McCarthy, Eoin Murchan and Con O’Callaghan will be a huge boost to the beleaguered Dessie Farrell – they are certainly nowhere near the unstoppable force they used to be either.

The likes of Brian Fenton, Michael Fitzsimons, Dean Rock and Ciarán Kilkenny are still among the best performers in the country but the level of talent coming through at this moment is not at the level of the all-conquering side of the 2010s.

Perhaps it was inevitable there would be a drop off from a side that had most teams beaten before they went on the pitch but if you said to someone Dublin would not have a point to their name after three games in the league before this campaign began, you would be rightly asked have you lost your mind.

But enough about that (it’s their problem, after all!). Let’s focus on Mayo. A few players who had question marks over them answered a few of their critics. Michael Plunkett defensively was solid throughout, while at the other end he fired over two wonderful scores.

While we’re up front, Aiden Orme produced his best performance in a Mayo shirt to date. He was a handful all match and combined brilliantly with Ryan O’Donoghue for Mayo’s second green flag.

Another man who impressed was Jordan Flynn in the middle of the field. After he picked up an early yellow, I’m sure there were a few Mayo fans who thought ‘here we go again’ following some disciplinary issues in the past but he hardly put a foot wrong from that point on and stepped up like many others did with a number of absences for Mayo, including Brendan Harrison, Jason Doherty and Cillian O’Connor.

Off the bench, Aidan O’Shea and Kevin McLoughlin made an impact. Rob Hennelly may have been voted man of the match by RTÉ, but Diarmuid O’Connor was immense. The Ballintubber man is back to his best and he was a nightmare for Dublin to deal with.

The scoop up before he fed Jack Carney for Mayo’s opening goal was just sublime.

Next up is Armagh this Sunday at Hyde Park. Take down the Orchard County and there might be another trip to Croke Park to look forward to.

*You can read Stuart's full column every Tuesday in our print edition.