Yet more championship heartbreak at the hands of Dublin was on the cards for Mayo on Sunday, as a promising first half turned to a second of despair at Croke Park.
The green and red came back from the dead to last this long in the championship, with a shock defeat to Cork in the final round of the group stages landing them in the preliminary quarter-final draw - where they were handed a mammoth task against neighbours Galway in Salthill.
After passing that test with flying colours, it was Dublin at Croke Park, and that was to prove a step too far for Kevin McStay's men. After going in at half-time only one point down, having dominated the first-half play, they were massacred in the opening ten minutes of the second half, as Dublin scored 1-4 without reply to put the game beyond reach.
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Immediately after that onslaught of Dublin scores, Mayo manager McStay made the surprising choice to withdraw talisman Aidan O'Shea from the action. Mayo would score only three more points in the game without their corner forward, who had been central to their play in the 2023 championship thus far.
It may yet end up being the last time we see Aidan O'Shea in action in a Mayo jersey - and his former manager James Horan has questioned the wisdom of the subsitution at Croke Park.
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Mayo GAA: James Horan questions wisdom of Aidan O'Shea substitution
It was always going to be a huge challenge for Mayo to keep up the performance levels for a third week running, not least against Dublin at Croke Park. Up until half-time, they had been doing a fine job against Dessie Farrell's Dublin, before the floodgates opened in the second period.
2 July 2023; Aidan O'Shea of Mayo leaves the pitch after being substituted during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Dublin and Mayo at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Though the game appeared to be gone by the 45th minute, the decision to withdraw one of Mayo's most crucial attacking outlays at that point seemed a strange one, and James Horan spoke about the decision on this week's Irish Examiner GAA podcast.
"Kevin makes his own call.. you know we might not understand the role that Kevin wanted for Aidan or what he was looking to change or whatever so he made a call on it.
James Horan on Mayo vs Dublin.
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Horan - who managed Mayo through much of their iconic rivalry with Dublin - said that he would not have taken off O'Shea. He argued that, no matter what the margin had grown to, Dublin do not relish playing the veteran forward, and that he still had the potential to cause issues for the Dubs' defence:
I probably wouldn't have, at that stage, no.
Kevin makes his own call - we mightn't maybe understand the role that Kevin wanted for Aidan, or what he was looking to change or whatever, he made a call on it. I probably wouldn't have.
I do think Dublin don't like playing against Aidan O'Shea, he certainly occupies their minds a little bit.
First half, it was high energy, there was lots of movement in it, so maybe there was some fatigue. But even still, he can play a certain game in there that keeps them occupied. I probably wouldn't have, that would have been what I would have done.
I'm not saying Kevin was wrong or anything, but I wouldn't have.
For Mayo, the 2023 championship dream is done - and, at 33 years old, there is every chance that Aidan O'Shea's intercounty career could also be.
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