Dublin’s Cormac Costello: ‘We’ve only played one Division One team this year and we struggled’

There are a few ironies in Cormac Costello’s career – the central one being that having struggled for nearly a decade to tie down a starting place, by the time he did Dublin had stopped winning the All-Ireland.

It’s all of nine years since he started that 2014 semi-final, the last inauspicious day for seven years to make a championship debut for Dublin. It took another four years for the next start, a dead rubber Super 8s clash with Roscommon.

In 2019, Costello started five of the six matches leading up to the All-Ireland semi-final but was a replacement for that and the replayed final, a status the didn’t change in the winter championship of 2020 in Dessie Farrell’s first year as manager.

Since then he has started 10 of the 11 Dublin championship matches for which he has been fit – scoring in nine of them, including shooting a goal against Kerry in last year’s narrow semi-final defeat – but missing three of this year’s fixtures.

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Injury hasn’t helped throughout a disrupted career. His biggest moment to date came in 2016 when he hopped off the bench to kick three points from play in the All-Ireland final replay against Mayo, critical scores in a one-point win.

That appeared to present his credentials for promotion but injury intervened in the 2017 league when he might have been expected to advance his claims.

On Sunday Dublin renew acquaintance with Mayo, for the first time in a quarter-final. Costello started the Leinster final against Louth and the first match in Group 3 against Roscommon, but an ankle injury kept him out of the next two fixtures with Kildare and Sligo.

He hopes to be fit for the weekend.

The teams are coming at the match from very different directions. Dublin have had a low-key campaign to date but share with Ulster champions Derry the distinction of not having lost a match despite close calls against Kildare in Leinster and Roscommon in the All-Ireland group stages.

“We don’t really know where we’re at,” according to Costello. “We’ve only played one Division One team this year and we struggled.”

That match against Roscommon was a reality check after a season of playing Division Two football for the first time in 15 years – and beating Derry in the divisional final.

It became a talking point chiefly because of Roscommon’s comfort in playing the possession game and how close they came to upending Dublin in a championship match for the first time in history.

This time, Mayo have lived a very full life in the championship compared to Dublin. Having won the national league back in April, they had just a week to recover before playing Roscommon in Connacht and fell at the first hurdle.

Bouncing back into the group stages they beat Kerry in Killarney and looked set to top the table only to lose – inexplicably – a six-point lead in the last 15 minutes against Cork.

Forced by this failure to travel to Salthill to take on Connacht champions Galway in the preliminary quarter-finals, Mayo dug in and won. They are battle-hardened, if erratic.

The Leinster semi-final was notable for more than Kildare’s unexpected challenge. Goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton made his comeback after three years out, at the age of 41.

Since then he has yet to concede a goal in five matches. Was there not, however, an impact on others of this late re-entry: in the absence of regular goalkeeper Evan Comerford, who had replaced Cluxton in 2021 but who was injured, David O’Hanlon took over in goal.

“Dave O’Hanlon had a great league campaign, arguably our best player in the league. Evan was magnificent the last two years with Stephen gone. But it’s like anything, there’s competition in all places in the team.”

Cluxton wasn’t around for the most recent defeat by Mayo but he was on the field for previous All-Ireland semi-final setbacks in 2006 and 2012.

He’s not the only comeback. Dublin’s 2011 All-Ireland winning manager Pat Gilroy was persuaded to return this year

“His experience speaks for itself. Dessie is obviously the main man. He trusts Pat. He brought him in. he’s a hands-on coach. We’re always trying to make ourselves better.

“As a player group or as a management group, we are always trying to find little advantages to make ourselves better, and that’s one that they took on this year and it’s been great.”

Costello’s father, John, has been at the helm of Dublin GAA for nearly 30 years as chief executive and is due to retire this autumn. Does he think his dad will miss it?

“I’d say he will, definitely. He’s been at it for so long but I’m sure he’ll keep himself busy somehow. Ma won’t let him hang around the house anyway. He has a good sense of humour in fairness to him.”

They’re hoping it won’t be needed on Sunday.