Dublin 1-17; Mayo 1-15
For those used to seeing names like Rock, McCarthy, Fenton, Mannion and McCarthy on the team, this Dublin line-up was new, even to many of the blue fans who made their way to Croke Park for the hurling and football double-header on Saturday evening.
Such personnel novelty, allied to the plethora of new rules being given their competitive debuts across the league fixture list meant there was a fresh feel to this game with only the result – another Mayo loss – harping back to outcomes from the good old bad days for Kevin McStay’s squad.
A two-point win meant the game was close enough to be always interesting and Dublin manager Dessie Farrell can thank MVP Sean Bugler – one of the newer faces over the past three or four years – for hitting the right notes and leading his teammates to victory with a massive seven points from play. A man making his league debut, Kevin Lahiff, also had a major bearing on the game as the St Jude’s star weighed in with 1-2, the goal settling his fellow players as it came early in the encounter.
We will need to get used to the new names as Dessie has 16 new or newish faces in his squad. McStay too is also in experimental mode with full league debuts to Davitt Neary and Fenton Kelly, and giving rookies Cian McHale and Sean Morahan a valuable run out.
Winning at home is one thing, we will know more about the young Dubs after the upcoming game against Donegal in Ballybofey this Saturday coming.
Their new faces against Mayo were goalkeeper Gavin Sheridan, James Madden, Lahiff, dual player Eoghan O'Donnell and Brian O'Leary, all being blooded for the first time at this level. Of the old brigade you would recognize only Brian Howard, the returning Dave Byrne and Eoin Murchan in defence while Ciaran Kilkenny is still going strong and Bugler has shown a capacity to step up to be a leader in this new epoch for the boys in blue.
Others will return, Con O’Callaghan is having a rest after a great Cuala club run to All Ireland glory while Cormac Costello and Niall Scully, who came on as a sub still have loads to offer.
On Saturday it was Killian McGinnnis who contested the new one-v-one throw-up with Mayo's Conor Reid, while Madden was the Leinster champions’ other middle operator.
Dublin led by 1-6 to 0-2 after quarter of an hour - something that eased the 24,000 fans’ fears with so many new faces and so many new rules to contend with. Mayo, as we all know, are, well Mayo, and no sooner had the thought entered our heads that they might be out of their depth than they scored eight times without reply, including a goal from Cathal Reid and a two-pointer from Fergal Boland.
The Dubs had a 15-minute nap and by half-time found themselves in arrears by two points - 1-10 to 1-8.
The game failed to ignite on the resumption but Dublin were the more dutiful and when Kilkenny clocked a swift pair of points, his team were back in front.
Mayo woke up and then we were treated to a game of tit-for-tat as the sides traded the lead on four different occasions.
The bottom line was that Bugler stepped up to get the vital scores while Mayo had no such leader in their ranks. A fine cameo by Luke Breathnach saw him kick two points after coming on - the difference between both sides at the end.
Dublin: G Sheridan; D Byrne, T Clancy, E Murchan; C Murphy, B Howard, G McEnaney (0-2); K McGinnis (0-1), J Madden; C Kilkenny (0-2), K Lahiff (1-2), Sean Bugler (0-7); C Basquel (0-1), E O'Donnell, B O'Leary Subs: S MacMahon for Murchan (45), T Lahiff for Madden (51), L Breathnach (0-2) for O'Leary (51), N Scully for Lahiff (59), S Lowry for O'Donnell (66).
Mayo: C Reape (0-1); S Callinan, R Brickenden, E Hession; S Coen, D McBrien, D McHugh; F Kelly, M Ruane; C Reid (1-0), P Towey (0-2), D Neary (0-2); F Boland (0-4, 0-1 tp), F Irwin (0-2), R O'Donoghue (0-3, 0-2f) Subs: D McHale (0-1) for Towey (51), C McHale for Irwin (59), B Tuohy for McHugh, S Morahan for Kelly (62), D O'Connor for Neary (64).
Ref: P Faloon (Down).
