It was men against boys in Croke Park tonight as Dublin coasted to a comfortable 1-12 to 0-7 victory over Mayo.

James Horan’s charges had won all three of their previous outings in the competition but they were totally outclassed by the All-Ireland champions, who are not at all flattered by their eight-point margin of victory.

Cormac Costello was Man of the Match, notching 1-4 with 35,213 in attendance at an ominously one-sided encounter.

The winners dominated the opening period and could have been much further than 1-6 to 0-3 ahead at the break, visiting goalkeeper Rob Hennelly saving no fewer than four goal efforts before the short whistle. The Mayo netminder also slotted two of Mayo’s three first-half scores while Dubs stopper Evan Comerford saved a Jason Doherty penalty.

Dubs boss Jim Gavin showed his intent prior to throw-in when adding both Ciaran Kilkenny and the moustached Cian O’Sullivan to his starting XV for their first appearances of the year, although the men they replaced – Dean Rock and James McCarthy – are of course class acts in their own right!

The hosts led by two points to no score after ten minutes thanks to Paul Mannion and Costello (free) and goalkeeper Hennelly opened Mayo’s account from a 55-metre free on 15 minutes. After Fionn McDonagh equalised, Costello cut inside Keith Higgins and drilled the ball to the May net in the 18th minute; Mannion’s free following a foul on Jack McCaffrey made it 1-3 to 0-2.

Andy Moran of Mayo and Dublin's Michael Fitzsimons contest possession 

Hennelly denied Mannion a second Dublin major but Kilkenny increased the gap as he was happy to take his point on 25 minutes with a possible goal on again. With Lee Keegan in the sin bin, Costello left six between the sides and McCaffrey drew another save from Hennelly before pointing on the run four minutes from the break.

Mayo’s first-half woes continued when the advancing Comerford saved a low Doherty penalty but at least Hennelly managed to slot over the resultant ‘45’ for his team’s third point, before executing another save – denying Costello at his near post.

Matthew Ruane posted Mayo’s fourth point within 30 seconds of the restart but Costello cancelled that score out from a 41st-minute free and Con O’Callaghan’s quality strike left seven points between the teams.

With the game over as a contest, substitute Kevin McLoughlin saw his effort cancelled out by Brian Fenton and an eternity seemed to pass before Doherty stroked over a 54th-minute free to reduce the gap to six, 0-6 to 1-9.

Costello and Doherty (free) traded scores as the game fizzled to its inevitable conclusion, Rock grabbing two late points to mark his cameo appearance.

Dublin - E Comerford; D Byrne, M Fitzsimons, J Cooper; J McCaffrey (0-1), C O'Sullivan, E Murchan; B Fenton (0-1), D Gavin; N Scully, C O'Callaghan (0-1), B Howard; P Mannion (0-2, 1f), C Kilkenny (0-1), C Costello (1-4, 0-2f). Subs: D Rock (0-2, 1f, 1m) for C Kilkenny, P Andrews for P Mannion, S Bugler for B Howard, D Daly for M Fitzsimons, M D Macauley for D Gavin.

Mayo - R Hennelly (0-2, 1f, 1'45); K Higgins, G Cafferkey, B Harrison; L Keegan, C Boyle, P Durcan; M Ruane (0-1), D Vaughan; F McDonagh (0-1), A O'Shea, C Treacy; J Doherty (0-2f), B Reape, A Moran. Subs: C Barrett for G Cafferkey, K McLoughlin (0-1) for C Treacy, S O'Shea for P Durcan, F Boland for A Moran, S Coen for B Reape.

Referee - B Cassidy.

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