All-Ireland Football semi-final: Mayo's stunning fightback ends Dublin reign

Mayo summoned up a huge comeback to end Dublin's six-year reign at Croke Park

Mayo secured a stunning 0-17 to 0-14 extra-time All-Ireland Football semi-final victory which ended Dublin's six-year reign as champions.

Dublin looked in total control in the first half as they led 0-9 to 0-2 and still were 0-10 to 0-5 up at the break.

But after their dismal first half, Mayo summoned up an astonishing revival as keeper Rob Hennelly's late 45 levelled the contest at 0-13 to 0-13.

As the Dubs continued to wilt, Mayo pulled clear to win in extra-time.

The Connacht champions, without an All-Ireland title since 1951 and having lost 10 finals since that victory, will face either Kerry or Tyrone in the decider although the second semi-final remains in some doubt because of the Red Hand County's Covid-19 crisis.

Whoever Mayo face in the decider will still represent a huge mental and physical challenge for James Horan's men but this squad - despite their long list of heartbreaking defeats - should be equipped for the task as never before following this remarkable victory.

Mayo end run of defeats by Dubs

Since Mayo's victory over Dublin in the 2012 All-Ireland semi-finals, the westerners failed to beat the men from Irish capital in five All-Ireland deciders including a drawn game in 2016 when the Dubs won the replay by a point.

One point was also the margin in the 2013 and 2017 finals before the Dubs had five points to spare last December to inflict further scars on Horan's men.

Despite that, Dublin's, by their standards, lacklustre form on the way to winning an 11th straight Leinster title made some pundits believe it could finally be Mayo's day at Croke Park but it didn't appear that way in the first half as Aidan O'Shea's struggles seemed to sum all up all that was going wrong for Horan's side.

But Enda Hession's introduction helped engineer Mayo's revival as Lee Keegan, Paddy Durcan, Padraig O Hora, Ryan O'Donoghue and Tommy Conroy also produced huge second halves.

After O'Shea had suffered a crisis of confidence following a couple of horrible first-half misses, the Mayo captain was substituted after 49 minutes although he was introduced again for the final seconds in extra-time as the ill-disciplined Dubs ended the game with 13 players following the late black cardings of James McCarthy and Tom Lahiff.

Early on, there was no hint of the drama that was to follow as Mayo produced a first-half display of rank ineptitude to hand Dublin an initiative that one could have never visualised them relinquishing.

The Dubs were four points to the good by the 10th minute helped by two Ciaran Kilkenny efforts before Matthew Ruane finally opened Mayo's account two minutes later.

There didn't look to be any road back for Mayo after Dublin's first-half domination

Another Kilkenny score helped Dublin maintain a four-point advantage [0-6 to 0-2] by the first water break with O'Shea suffering the indignity of failing to point a mark from a relatively central position on the 13-metre line as his effort hit an upright.

The game looked over when two Dean Rock frees and a Paddy Small effort from play extended Dublin's advantage to seven before Hennelly's first long-range free stopped the Mayo bleeding as they trailed 0-10 to 0-4 at the break.

While Dublin's first-half dominance was founded largely on Mayo's woeful efforts, one would still have expected the contest to be wrapped up within 10 minutes of the resumption.

But in something unheard of for this Dublin team, they were held scoreless for 18 minutes after the break as Mayo, while still largely unconvincing, at least began to give themselves a foothold back into the contest.

O'Donoghue's superb 39th-minute score from play saw Mayo finally find their range from distance and while they only managed two points over the next 13 minutes, the scores from Hennelly and the strong-running Keegan suddenly left only a kick of the ball between the teams on 52 minutes.

After Paddy Small's point finally got the champions scoring again, Dubs substitute Colm Basquel flashed a great goal chance wide amid protests that John Small's dispossession of Eoghan McLaughlin had been high rather that shoulder to shoulder.

McLaughlin had to be stretchered off and Rock's sixth point suggested the Dubs had regained control as they moved 0-12 to 0-7 ahead on 59 minutes.

Hennelly's redemption as he ensures extra-time

But the long delay for McLaughlin's treatment meant Mayo were going to have plenty of time to chip away at Dublin's lead and the hitherto subdued Kevin McLoughlin's point from the touchline, after Diarmuid O'Connor had stretched to keep a misdirected Hennelly free in play, started a run of four unanswered scores in six minutes.

Conroy's 69th-minute free left the minimum between the sides and while Rock's latest successful free doubled Dublin's lead in the first minute of injury-time, the force still remained with Mayo as O'Donoghue pointed a free conceded by keeper Evan Comerford's loss of possession 30 yards from his own goals.

Comerford's opposite number Hennelly, whose mistake gifted Dublin a crucial goal in the 2016 final replay, became Mayo's hero in the final seconds of injury-time as he slotted a twice-taken 45 after his first effort had been sliced wide.

In the opening moments of extra-time, substitute Sean Bugler fisted Dublin back into the lead but their advantage was short-lived as the brilliant Conroy fired two sensational scores to put Mayo ahead for the first time, with Basquel's black carding for a cynical body check further hindering the champions.

Further Darren Coen and O'Donoghue points put Mayo 0-17 to 0-14 ahead by the end of first extra-time period and with Dublin's efforts thereafter confined to lumping in a few high balls into the square, Horan's side maintained their composure to clinch a final spot.