Former Mayo captain Alan Dillon believes all the pressure is on Dublin this evening as the five-in-a-row looms.
Although Mayo carry the burden of 68 years without an All-Ireland, Dillon believes that Dublin’s bid for immortality will weigh much heavier if the game is up for grabs in the closing stages.
The conundrum for Mayo, he says, is staying in the game until then.
Dillon was captain of the last Mayo team to beat Dublin in the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final and said: “Some men will have to step up. I remember in ‘12 we lost four or five players, Seamie O’Shea came on in the second half and some players elevated their game to a different level and everyone was counted.
“Some players will present themselves and not look back from this game so I think Mayo, if they’re in that position, I think Dublin will feel a lot more pressure than Mayo.
“There’s a lot more on the line for Dublin with five-in-a-row with Mayo breathing down their necks. I think it’s a massive position for Mayo to be in.
“So if we can get to that position, it’d be great. They’ll have enough experience on the pitch to see it through.
“You look at their top six forwards, Kevin McLoughlin, Cillian O’Connor, Andy Moran, they’ll have fresh blood there with James Carr, Darren Coen.
“All I wish is that Mayo are there in the last quarter.”
Dillon retired after the 2017 campaign and played in the both the drawn and replayed All-Ireland finals the year before, with Mayo doing well to retrieve the situation the first day after conceding two freak own goals.
He added: “They need to be sound defensively from the outset and not concede soft scores, goals or points.
“Mayo will set out to have a strong defensive structure and quieten the crowd, dictate the tempo of the game. You might see Mayo in possession a lot and that’s no harm.
“I think Mayo need to be very, very solid from the start in terms of when they’re in possession.”
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