When the dust settles on Mayo’s defeat and the sympathy ebbs away, the daggers may come out.
Fingers will be pointed, according to Senan Connell, who reckons that Donie Vaughan may have to cop his share of the blame.
Dublin led by one point in the 46th minute when referee Joe McQuillan blew his whistle to stop the game.
John Small was about to get his second yellow for a foul on Colm Boyle, Cillian O’Connor had a kickable free and would level the game up, the champions would have to play the last 25 minutes a man down.
In flies Vaughan to land an awkward shoulder / clothesline on Small, the Dublin defender hits the deck.
McQuillan has no option and must red-card Vaughan. The free is forfeited for retaliation. Dublin score next.
"There’s going to be people out with daggers for them, that’s what really annoys me," former Dublin player Connell told the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"I think [people] are going to say that this is a game they threw away, they were on top for so long.
"The heat won’t be on Stephen Rochford and his management team. It could potentially be on Donie Vaughan.
"If he hadn’t gone in for that little bit of indiscipline it would have meant 15 on 14.
"Cillian O’Connor had a chance to kick that ball over the bar.
"And all of a sudden Stephen Cluxton is looking out with 13 blue jerseys on 14 [markers]. Surely that was going to be harder again.
"That big call, that rush of blood to the head might have cost Mayo."
It was notable then, after Dean Rock’s late free, when Jim Gavin’s side needed to slow it down they knew exactly when and how to foul.
Stop David Clarke getting his kick-out to a team-mate. At all costs.
Ciarán Kilkenny was black-carded, Cormac Costello saw yellow, Rock shoved someone, anyone.
"What’s the difference between the two sides in terms of discipline?" asked Connell after the 1-17 to 1-16 win.
"Dublin are a streetwise side. When they needed to slow the tempo of the game down there [they did].
"When Clarke took the initial kick-out it was won but the free had been blown because Dublin were fouling in little pockets around the place.
"[They] gave it back to Clarke, he looked up, still a lot of fouling going on, he kicked it over the sideline so that’s being streetwise rather than being ill-disciplined and getting punished."
