Wonderful Mayo sink Dublin

Allianz Football League Division I: Mayo 0-20 Dublin 0-8

Mayo produced one of their best performances in years as they completely dismantled Dublin in Castlebar to give themselves a chance of making the semi-finals of Division I going into the last weekend of the Allianz Football League.

Entry was free into MacHale Park on Saturday as a result of the original game between the teams having been abandoned back in February, and the goodwill generated from that seemed to transmit itself to the Mayo players on a beautiful evening out west as they ran riot in a remarkable display.

Conor Mortimer became Mayo's all-time top scorer, hitting 0-8 in total on the night, but he was not alone in shining in the Mayo attack, as Alan Dillon and Michael Conroy both scored 0-4 from play.

There was also a superb performance in midfield from Aidan O'Shea, who returned from a two-match ban to dominate the central area and win a lot of possession from Stephen Cluxton's kickouts.

Dublin had no answer to Mayo's relentless workrate, brisk attacking and flawless finishing, and the All-Ireland champions will now probably need to beat Cork in their last game next weekend to make the semi-finals of the top tier.

For Mayo, if they can beat Kerry on Easter Sunday, they will make the last four, something which looked unlikely last weekend when Cork beat them with two injury-time points.

Mayo scored with ease throughout the opening period, with Mortimer, Dillon and Conroy their best performers in a performance full of class and ambition.

They led 0-5 to 0-1 after 12 minutes, with a couple of Conroy points and a fine effort from Dillon the pick of their scores. Paddy Andrews and Bryan Cullen knocked points over to reduce the gap for Dublin but a blockbuster effort from O'Shea restored the four point advantage.

That set off a burst of brilliant points from James Horan's side, and the quality of their play was very encouraging as the lethargic Dubs completely failed to keep up with the home team.

Mortimer, Dillon and Conroy all upped their tallies with a point each in little more than 60 seconds around the 25 minute mark, before two more from Mortimer and a classy score from Barry Moran put Mayo a fully deserved 0-13 to 0-3 ahead.

Dublin had a chance to get right back into the game during this period when Kevin Nolan broke through on goal, but he put his shot straight at goalkeeper David Clarke.

Following this miss, Pat Gilroy's men had to content themselves with two Mossy Quinn frees just before the break which still left them well behind, trailing by 0-13 to 0-5.

Any suggestion that things would change after half-time was quickly dispelled when Mayo flashed over three more points in the first few minutes of the second period, centre half back Donal Vaughan getting two of them, both excellent scores.

Things got worse for Dublin when substitute Paul Flynn was given a straight red on 41 minutes, and the dismissal effectively confirmed their fate.

Ger Brennan and Diarmuid Connolly powered over a couple of long range scores for Dublin to reduce the gap to nine points, but it did not inspire any kind of revival as Mortimer and Dillon tacked on two more to keep the Mayo engine purring.

With the result long since a formality, the game became something of a pedestrian affair, and when Connolly was given his second yellow with 10 minutes to go, Dublin were down to 13 men and willing the final whistle to come as quickly as possible.

Mayo weren't done though, and Conroy got his fourth of the night with a great point from a tight angle before Mortimer racked up the 20th, and final score for the Connacht champions to complete a remarkable evening.