It’s a sign of the times that of the teams fielded by Dessie Farrell and James Horan last Saturday evening, just six Dublin players know what it is to lose to Mayo, as a mere three on the Mayo starting 15 had experience of beating Dublin at senior level. Fifteen times Mayo faced Jim Gavin’s Dublin sides and 15 times they failed to win, 12 of them defeats and two of the three draws those famous Championship Croke Park draws. “The record is a bit of a monkey on the back, alright,” says Enda Varley, who was on the last Mayo team to beat Dublin eight years ago. But everybody in Mayo would like a win against Dublin even if it is in the league. Like Diarmuid O’Connor, Varley can’t explain why Mayo have generally been underperformed in Castlebar.

Source: Irish Examiner January 29, 2020 00:00 UTC