Cillian O’Connor registered an incredible 4-9 at foggy Croke Park as Mayo defeated Tipperary by 5-20 to 3-13 to seal another All-Ireland final date with Dublin.

Saturday week’s mouth-watering Sam Maguire Cup decider will be the fourth time in eight years that Mayo and Dublin have met in the final – will this be the year that the men from the west finally bridge the gap to 1951? While they were sublime going forward today, they will certainly need to tighten up at the back to live with Dessie Farrell’s all-conquering charges, who are of course gunning for six in a row.

One of the many remarkable stats from this one-sided game was that the winners were so efficient that their first wide – off the left foot of captain Aidan O’Shea – didn’t arrive until the 59th minute, at which stage they had 5-17 accrued.

The game was over as a contest at half time as a hat-trick of Cillian O’Connor goals and a fourth from his brother Diarmuid propelled Mayo into a landslide 4-12 to 1-5 interval advantage.

Mayo’s all-time record scorer O’Connor (free) and Colin O’Riordan traded early points before David Clarke denied the hesitant Michael Quinlivan from point-blank range as the Premier County missed a glorious goal chance of their own in the fifth minute.

Man of the Match O’Connor pointed another free and there was a six-point swing as the Mayo No.15 palmed the ball to an empty net moments after Conor Sweeney fired his shot straight at Clarke at the other end. At the third attempt, on ten minutes, Tipp finally got their first goal as Brian Fox improvised brilliantly to dispatch a left-footed shot, which dribbled across the line beneath Hill 16. But that was really as good as it got for the losers…

O’Connor (free) brought his and Mayo’s tally to 1-3 and Matthew Ruane made it 1-4 to 1-1 before Patrick Durcan fisted over the Connacht champions’ third successive point, the impressive Tommy Conroy slotting the sixth Mayo point from an advanced mark on 16 minutes. Steven O’Brien pulled one back as Tipp trailed by four at the first water break, having spurned two very presentable goalscoring opportunities in the first quarter.

This was of course a repeat of the 2016 semi-final, which both teams qualified for via the back door. Surprise Munster champions Tipperary were bidding to reach their first All-Ireland final in a century, while Mayo in contrast have contested four of the last eight Sam Maguire Cup deciders – the last three of those against the Dubs (2013, 2016 and 2017).

Mayo claimed their first Connacht SFC crown in five years when defeating Galway in their provincial final three weeks ago, while Tipp’s stunning victory over Cork a fortnight ago saw them rule Munster for the first time since 1935.

Kevin McLoughlin blazed a Mayo goal chance over the bar before Sweeney and O’Connor swapped frees but Conroy pointed and O’Connor hammered the second Mayo goal low to the Tipp net on 25 minutes before bringing his tally to 2-5 with a left-footed strike from play. Sweeney’s free reduced the arrears to nine but disaster struck for David Power’s men when – after O’Shea fisted a point - O’Connor intercepted Liam Casey’s ill-advised backpass to Evan Comerford to flick the ball to an empty net and complete his first-half hat-trick.

In response to Sweeney’s free, O’Connor took his tally to 3-6 by tapping over a free at the Davin End and a nightmare first half for Tipp ended on the worst possible note when Cillian O’Connor’s ‘45’ dropped short and his brother Diarmuid palmed the ball to the net to leave 16 points between the sides at the short whistle.

Cillian O'Connor fires home another goal. ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.

Cillian O’Connor (free) and Conroy added to the winning tally either side of a Sweeney free upon the resumption, with Lee Keegan black-carded for a cynical foul on Quinlivan as he bore down on goal. Sweeney popped over another close-range free as a Tipp attacker was again unceremoniously stopped in his tracks inches outside the penalty area.

Conor Loftus fired the 15th Mayo point and O’Connor’s fourth goal arrived in the 45th minute when he collected a high delivery and slotted first time to the net from close range with his left. The Ballintubber clubman soon took his tally for the day to 4-8, slotting a point after Comerford denied Ruane.

O’Connor and Sweeney swapped frees and it was a 20-point game at the second water break, 5-17 to 1-9. The winners now took their foot off the pedal, understandably, with an All-Ireland final looming.

Substitute Paudie Feehan drilled a left-footed bullet low to the Mayo net with 15 minutes left. Kevin Fahey, Sweeney (free) – his eighth – and O’Riordan pulled back a trio of Tipp points, Conroy nailing his fourth. Substitute Darren Coen helped himself to a late brace for the winners, while Sweeney hammered to the roof of their net in between, taking his tally to 1-9. Even though Mayo had eased up in the fourth quarter, they coughed up a lot of goal chances today and James Horan will be working on improving their defensive solidity over the next 13 days.

The long and short of it all however is that, in this year of years, we have another Dublin–Mayo All-Ireland senior football championship final to look forward to six days before Christmas.

Mayo - D Clarke; O Mullin, C Barrett, L Keegan; P Durcan (0-1), S Coen, E McLaughlin; C Loftus (0-1), M Ruane (0-1); K McLoughlin (0-1), R O’Donoghue, D O’Connor (1-0); T Conroy (0-4, 1m), A O’Shea (0-1), C O’Connor (4-9, 0-6f). Subs: J Flynn for D O’Connor, P O’Hora for C Barrett, M Plunkett for E McLaughlin, T Parsons for R O’Donoghue, D Coen (0-2) for C O’Connor.

Tipperary - E Comerford; A Campbell, J Feehan, C O’Shaughnessy; B Maher, K Fahey (0-1), R Kiely; S O’Brien (0-1), L Casey; C O’Riordan (0-2), M Quinlivan, Conal Kennedy; B Fox (1-0), C Sweeney (1-9, 0-8f), Colman Kennedy. Subs: E Moloney for L Casey, P Austin for B Fox, P Feehan (1-0) for R Kiely, D Brennan for J Feehan, L Boland for C Kennedy.

Referee - D Gough.

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