Saturday, October 1st

All-Ireland SFC final replay
Dublin v Mayo, Croke Park, 5pm

East meets west again this Saturday evening in the 13th ever All-Ireland senior football championship final replay - and first since Kerry's victory over Galway in 2000. 

Needless to day, it's a bit tougher to call this time round but Dublin are still the strong favourites (priced at 8/15) to overcome Mayo's challenge at Croke Park.

Stephen Rochford's team are 9/4 underdogs after skipper Cillian O'Connor stepped up to the plate the last day to save them a late draw and second shot at redemption. 

That fascinating contest saw the westerners defending like demons for large portions against the All-Ireland champions but the concession of two first-half own goals may well have ended up costing them dear.  

Dublin aren't likely to go 31 minutes without recording their own score again tomorrow evening, but you can expect their opponents to deploy the same defensive tactics in trying to smother the Metropolitans' front men for 70 minutes.

Also expect the fascinating tussle between Diarmuid Connolly and Lee Keegan to turn a new chapter after the former was held to just a single point in the drawn game two weeks ago, having come in for heavy attention once more from the Westport defender.

Ex-Mayo star John Casey has since described certain media coverage over Keegan's approach towards handling Connolly as "bordering on ridiculous", adding that that it's "an amazing sideshow".

Jim Gavin recently dismissed any notion of a 'Dublin conspiracy' to alert referee Maurice Deegan over Keegan ahead of tomorrow's rematch at HQ, telling the Irish Times this week that it "hasn't been spoken of in those terms in the Dublin camp".

Mayo's problem two Sundays ago wasn't so much Connolly or his fellow forwards but their own distribution, and that will need to improve considerably if the party is destined for Castlebar on Sunday.

It was alluded to in our previous preview that O'Connor, his brother Diarmuid and Aidan O'Shea all possess the right ingredients to inflict the capital men with irreparable damage - and they still do. To no surprise though, it was Mayo's number 15 that stepped up to the mark when it mattered most last time and he'll need his supporting cast to return the favour here.

On the opposite end, it will be interesting to see if Gavin opts for a reshuffle in his attack.

Two points off the bench the last day gives Paddy Andrews the best chance of claiming a starting berth, while Paul Mannion will also be breathing down the neck of a number of the Dublin withdrawals on September 16th.

Now 28 games unbeaten between league and championship, the holders are hardly in dire straits, or anything close to it, but the pressure definitely is on.

Verdict: Dublin

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