Jesus, this is getting terrifying.
A Dublin team shorn of a host of guaranteed Championship starters has handed the only side to truly push them last year a proper pasting in the National Football League.
Saturday, March 4, Croke Park: Dublin 1-16 Mayo 0-7.
It was every bit as comprehensive as it sounds.
Jim Gavin’s men bounced back from two draws, against Donegal and Tyrone, to sit top of the top tier and give everyone a very unpleasant reality check in March.
Dismiss the O’Byrne Cup and this is now a 33-game unbeaten run for the Dubs. They are seeking a fifth straight league and a historic three All-Irelands on the spin.
This was Mayo, who came within two own goals and a goalkeeping meltdown of beating Dublin last year, being dismantled in Croke Park.
These Dubs are human #GAA https://t.co/ZNyYThtfQp
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 4, 2017
And it could have been more, were it not for a couple of scarcely believable misses by Eoghan O’Gara and a tremendous triple penalty save from David Clarke.
Now, Clarke’s kick-outs were wobbly, handing Dublin a goal and a couple of points, but in terms of shot-stopping he has proved once more that he is without peer in Gaelic football.
Substitute Paddy Andrews’ first touch was his penalty, which Clarke saved.
His second was a rebound, which Clarke saved.
His third was a second rebound, which Clarke saved.
The man is a wizard, but yet again he is on the losing side.
One man who knows nothing about losing is Brian Fenton. The 24-year-old Raheny man has famously not found himself on a losing Dublin side in League or Championship since bursting on to the intercounty scene in 2015.
This man is no passenger. Man of the match in the 2015 All-Ireland final, Fenton has won two All-Stars and is quietly and confidently rewriting what is expected of a midfielder.
He is a throwback. He is a sepia-tinted return to the age of Tohill, O Se and O’Shea. Tall, rangy, strong in the tackle and a superb passer – Fenton goes relentlessly, always does the right thing with the ball and rarely, if ever, takes a sideways step.
Brian Fenton, as he appears in dreams of @ConanDoherty pic.twitter.com/tNzXHpJ66r
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) March 4, 2017
He is the perfect foil for the less conventional but devastatingly effective Michael Darragh MacAuley. This is a midfield pairing that will fancy themselves as a match for any other duo in the country.
Donal Vaughan, Diarmuid Connolly, Tom Parsons… whatever combination Mayo tried on Saturday night was chewed up and spat out.
“The feathers of Brian Fenton appear to be unruffable,” said Eir Sport commentator Dave McIntyre as Parsons and Fergal Poland pushed and shoved the Dublin midfielder, trying to get a rise in the second half of a feisty affair.
No dice.
All Fenton wants to do is play football. Catch ball. Give ball. Kick ball. Tackle ball. Retrieve ball.
He breaks at pace from midfield and draws fouls, like the one from Parsons early in the second half that brought an easy free for Dean Rock.
He lifts his head and instantly looks for the quick 30-yard ball into his full-forward line – as he did early in the game, forcing Clarke to poleaxe O’Gara on edge of the small square.
If that ball is not on, he plays his role in the fast, slick running game that has characterised Dublin’s play in 2017. With ball in hand he is nearly impossible to stop.
He can link with Philly McMahon, Darren Daly, Eric Lowndes, Niall Scully and the rest of Dublin’s buzzing middle-men. He is happy to.
But in so many ways, metaphorical and physical, he stands head and shoulders above them.
Will he ever lose? Probably.
Will it be his fault? Almost definitely not.
