May’s hope for an alternate history fades on a perfect winter night in Dublin

Now what?

Dublin and May served up a riveting all-Ireland final for three-quarters of the contest. It was 2-9 to 0-14 in the last water break, at 55 minutes and five seconds into the game.

Far below us, the Mayo players gathered for one last meeting. That’s it. They seemed relaxed. Then it was possible to believe that the emptiness of the stadium would be good for them: that we could be watching the history boys. It was a beautiful night in the city of Dublin: cool, calm, a great moon hanging low over the stadium. And it’s that time of year to make believe: sleigh bells ringing, all of that. The two teams trotted out in the fourth quarter.

And perhaps it did not reach the living rooms of Ireland and the Mayo homes via television frequencies, where the mood must be one of general cardiac arrest. But something came out of the game. The tension left the great stadium.

It was nothing that Mayo did or did not do. Instead, a kind of realization seemed to descend on Croke Park that James Horan’s young team had kept reality at bay all night. Yes, there was a time when young Eoghan McLaughlin, who doesn’t run as much as a Kawasaki Ninja, ran down a straight open lane through Dublin’s defense and saw it all before him even when he caught the ball. And he dropped it: a forgivable rookie mistake. But Mayo needed moments of fabulousness to become reality: to enter Séamus Derby’s book of immortal moments. Instead, an alternate history faded.

And then Ciarán Kilkenny kicked a good point at the other end of the field. Brian Howard, the least watched championship, stepped up and scored another great score. Paul Mannion, another All Star caliber player who operates in limited minutes, hit free. And so was the minute 62 and 2-12 to 0-14 for Dublin and the game, the night, the 69 long years: everything was out of the reach of May.

They gave everything they had. And it was not enough.

You can’t score without the ball. In the 10 minutes immediately after halftime, Mayo was apparently in a very good spot: facing a second half losing by just one point and ready to exploit the fact that Robbie McDaid had been sent off.

Dublin would spend 10 minutes with 13 outfield players. Dublin’s pressure deluge would not be repeated in the second half of last year. And there was not. Instead, Dublin played hold of the ball, happily moving it around the field as if they were on a Sunday afternoon spree at Phoenix Park.

And there was, simultaneously, a notable weakening in the collective energy of May. The spotlights were bright and the shadows were long, and suddenly the Irish champions looked comfortable. And it was as if Mayo suddenly realized they had another 35 minutes and then added time to chase, run and work to get the ball back, before even thinking about scoring.

If you want to find out what Dublin is all about, Niall Scully is probably a good place to start. The man from Synge Street is probably the least mentioned player in this Dublin collective and that’s fitting. Play as a ghost, sneaking around the periphery of the coal face. But at the same time he is everywhere, all the time: available for every exit pass, always covering, always perfectly positioned and always moving the ball.

Understandably, there will be several florist bouquets thrown at the feet of Brian Fenton, Ciarán Kilkenny and Con O’Callaghan after this sixth straight win, Cuala’s sniper removing the glass for the man of the match. .

But Scully was the most valuable player on the field Saturday night. He didn’t waste a single possession and his role in the second goal was emblematic of the kind of intentional loitering he has been in since he stormed the team.

Dublin is ahead, Mayo is tackling like crazy and the game has turned into the kind of dizzying, fast ball the Dubs love. There is a reason they love it. And that reason is free for all to see in the warm-up, when they play seven-on-seven passing games in incredibly tight spaces.

Cillian O’Connor, after a monstrous first quarter, has stepped back and meets Scully to the right of David Clarke’s post. But O’Connor is not behind. Your eye goes to the ball during this moment. Meanwhile, Scully looks as harmless as a boy waiting for the bus into town on a sleepy Sunday, until O’Connor instinctively moved toward the ball. Now alone and unmarked, Scully was alive and urgent, and silent. The ball came towards him. Most players, in that position, would have a goal on their mind. Scully looked up, saw a blue T-shirt; It was O’Callaghan, but any of the ’70s Dubs could have walked in from their living room chairs and finished it. The pass was perfect without problems. Then, he returned to his role of near invisibility, keeping all the gears turning. Kill teams and they don’t even notice it.

Mayo managed just one game point in the second half. They couldn’t get the ball. It was his huge heart and physical intensity: Oisín Mullin, Aidan O’Shea, Diarmuid O’Connor and Kevin McLoughlin were phenomenal for the first hour. But in the end, they were gassed, struggling to live with Dublin in fourth and fifth gear until well into the 70th minute.

Can any team live with them? The question grows stronger. May gave them their only real game, but in the end, Dublin won it with an overriding ease and authority that will put off all other contenders and make the debate over what to ‘do’ about the city game more urgent.

“A wild team and they will always have that level of strength and intensity,” Jonny Cooper said generously after Mayo.

“You expect it, but only when you’re in it do you try to calculate it. We had to readjust and pick up the pace a bit. We managed to control it a bit and then when we got the full complement back, we managed to push a bit. But they were there or there. There is also a bit of experience because we have been there before. We know how to keep calm and execute. And being able to perform under pressure was the key for us. “

And that know-how contributed to the baffling sense of inevitability that settled on the occasion in the last quarter. As Cooper spoke, Brian Fenton was alone in the middle of the lighted field, chatting with someone on the phone. The place was empty and serene. The weird thing was seeing the veteran statesmen of the Dublin squad – Michael Darragh Macauley and Kevin McManamon, neither of whom played, congratulating the players on the field. New faces take center stage. Dublin brought in 10 new players this year for Dessie Farrell’s first season. And no coach was under more pressure in 2020.

“Enchanted is the word,” Farrell said.

“Obviously a bit of relief too. I’m excited for the players – it’s been a very long year. I am very happy that they got the result tonight and it is a fair reward for how they put in effort throughout the year. And delighted by their families. It’s a shame they couldn’t be here. “

But they will return. On many, many days across Ireland. The All Ireland Year ends with the familiar vision of Stephen Cluxton holding the Sam Maguire over and over and over again. The new year and the new season are just around the corner.