GAA:A heavy fog in Castlebar has forced the abandonment of Mayo's meeting with Dublin at half-time in the Allianz National Football League. Conditions deteriorated in the last fifteen minutes of the first half and by the time the teams left the field the goalposts were barely visible from the stands.
Dublin led by 0-8 to 0-5 at the break, a score which hardly reflected their overall control. The visitors rushed into a 0-6 to 0-2 lead, with Diarmuid Connolly giving an attacking clinic up-front and the Dublin rearguard mopping up Mayo’s attempted attacks with ease.
Their lack of discipline was the main downside to their performance, with Michael Dara Macauley and Bryan Cullen picking up yellow cards while James McCarthy was shown a straight red for showing an elbow while trying to evade the attentions of Alan Freeman.
Even after that, Dublin continued to boss the flow of the match, with Kevin McManamon, who had been roving the field with great effect, dispatched up front as a ball winner. Dublin’s play was crisp and efficient, with McManamon’s 27th minute point, a curled shot after a fine block on Macauley’s initial shot by Keith Higgins, was the pick of the bunch.
Referee Marty Duffy delayed the restart by five minutes but if anything, the blanket grew heavier and although The Sawdoctors played on the loudspeakers through the delay, the announcement that the match had been called off was greeted with an accepting groan. The CCCC will meet on Monday to decide upon a date for the refixture.
“We would have been happy to play it tomorrow, I think Mayo would have been as well but unfortunately that’s not possible,” Dublin manager Pat Gilroy said afterwards, explaining a decision will not be made until the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee meet.