It was niggly, it was aggressive and above all it was exciting. The build up to the big clash suggested that it would be two teams, at the top of their game, going head to head in a match that would see football played at it's best. It's fair to say we didn't exactly get that.
Instead we got intensity, aggression and, plenty of fouls. Mayo fans will suggest that Dublin should have finished the game with less than the 14 men that they did, while Dublin fans have pointed to the fact that Rory O'Carroll was forced to get stitches in an incident which is going under the radar somewhat.
One of the primary talking points was the tactics used to nullify the threat of Aidan O'Shea. The physicality of the Mayo man means that many teams have found it impossible to handle him and it was clear that Dublin's gameplan was to ramp up that physicality. Whether you think that gameplan crossed a line is perhaps down to your own viewpoint.
O'Shea, for his part, addressed the tactics in the aftermath of the match. Many fans had suggested that Philly McMahon should have seen red for his apparent headbutt and O'Shea confirmed exactly what he thought of it.
Yeah, I was headbutted alright but that’s not for me to enforce the rules of the game. There were plenty more things out there the ref missed too.
He did go on to say that the game was 'competitive' rather than nasty but his comments are nonetheless sure to only ramp up tensions ahead of the replay next Saturday.
