A GAA football championship season which has produced consistently high standards over the last four months is heading for an exciting climax on Sunday when Dublin and Mayo clash in the senior final in Croke Park (3.30). It will be preceded by the Mayo v Tyrone minor final (1.15).

The Dublin v Mayo clash will be the first between the counties in the All-Ireland final since 1921 when Dublin won by 1-9 to 0-2. The counties have met twice in the All-Ireland semi- final over the last seven years with Mayo winning both in 2006 and 2012. Dublin, who last won the All-Ireland title two years ago, are seeking their 24th crown while
Mayo, who last won in 1951, are seeking their fourth title.

Paths to the final
DUBLIN
Dublin 1-22 Westmeath 0-9
Dublin 4-16 Kildare 1-9
Dublin 2-15 Meath 0-14
Dublin 1-16 Cork 0-14
Dublin 3-18 Kerry 3-11
Average For: 2-18; Average Against: 1-11

Dublin scorers
Bernard Brogan..........1-16
Paul Mannion..............3-6
Stephen Cluxton..........0-14
Ciaran Kilkenny..........0-11
Diarmuid Connolly.......1-8
Dean Rock.....................0-10
Paul Flynn.................. ..1-6
Eoghan O'Gara............2-2
Paddy Andrews............1-5
Jack McCaffrey............1-1
Kevin McManamon.......1-1
MD Macauley..................0-2
Cian O'Sullivan.............0-2
Ger Brennan...................0-1
Denis Bastick...................0-1
Philip McMahon.............0-1

MAYO
Mayo 4-16 Galway 0-11
Mayo 0-21 Roscommon 0-9
Mayo 5-11 London 0-10
Mayo 4-17 Donegal 1-10
Mayo 1-16 Tyrone 0-13
Average For: 3-16; Average Against: 0-12

Mayo Scorers
Cillian O'Connor.....6-14
Alan Freeman..........2-12
Kevin McLoughlin..0-10
Enda Varley.............1-6
Donal Vaughan.......2-2
Alan Dillon..............0-7
Lee Keegan.............0-7
Darren Coen............1-3
Andy Moran............1-3
Richie Feeney..........0-4
Cathal Carolan........1-1
Colm Boyle.............0-3
Chris Barrett...........0-3
Aidan O'Shea..........0-2
Keith Higgins...........0-1
Seamus O'Shea.......0-1
Kevin Keane...........0-1
Robert Hennelly......0-1

Previous Championship Clashes
2012: Mayo 0-19 Dublin 0-16 (All-Ireland semi-final)
2006: Mayo 1-16 Dublin 2-12 (All-Ireland semi-final)
1985: Dublin 2-12 Mayo 1-7 (All-Ireland semi-final) Replay
1985: Dublin 1-13 Mayo 1-13 (All-Ireland semi-final) Draw
1955: Dublin 1-8 Mayo 1-7 (All-Ireland semi-final) Replay
1955: Dublin 0-7 Mayo 1-4 (All-Ireland semi-final) Draw
1923: Dublin 1-6 Mayo 1-2 (All-Ireland semi-final)
1921: Dublin 1-9 Mayo 0-2 (All-Ireland final)
1904: Dublin 0-8 Mayo 1-4 (All-Ireland semi-final)
Dublin 5; Mayo 2; Draws 2.

Last Ten All-Ireland finals
DUBLIN
2011: Dublin 1-12 Kerry 1-11
1995: Dublin 1-10 Tyrone 0-12
1994: Down 1-12 Dublin 0-13
1992: Donegal 0-18 Dublin 0-14
1985: Kerry 2-12 Dublin 2-8
1984: Kerry 0-14 Dublin 1-6
1983: Dublin 1-10 Galway 1-8
1979: Kerry 3-13 Dublin 1-8
1978: Kerry 5-11 Dublin 0-9
1977: Dublin 5-12 Armagh 3-6
Won 4; Lost 6.

MAYO
2012: Donegal 2-11 Mayo 0-13
2006: Kerry 4-15 Mayo 3-5
2004: Kerry 1-20 Mayo 2-9
1997: Kerry 0-13 Mayo 1-7
1996: Meath 2-9 Mayo 1-11 (Replay)
1996: Meath 0-12 Mayo 1-9 (Draw)
1989: Cork 0-17 Mayo 1-11
1951 Mayo 2-8 Meath 0-9
1950: Mayo 2-5 Louth 1-6
1948: Cavan 4-5 Mayo 4-4
Won 2; Drawn 1, Lost 7

Last Championship Clash...
Mayo 0-19 Dublin 0-16 (2012 All-Ireland semi-final)
Dublin led by two points after 33 minutes before adding four late points to lead by 0-12 to 0-6 at half-time. They out-scored Dublin by 0-5 to 0-1 in the first 16 minutes of the second half to lead by 0-17 to 0-7 after 51 minutes. Dublin launched a spirited revival, scoring eight unanswered points in 15 minutes to cut the margin to two points. However, Mayo stemmed the Dublin flow in the closing minutes with Cillian O'Connor and Seamus O'Shea adding points while Bernard Brogan scored Dublin's last point.

Mayo: D Clarke; K Keane, G Cafferkey, K Higgins; L Keegan, D Vaughan, C Barrett; AO'Shea, B Moran (0-1); K McLoughlin (0-2), J Doherty (0-1), A Dillon (0-3); E Varley (0-2, 0-1 free), C O'Connor (0-7, 0-3 frees, 0-3 '45s'), M Conroy (0-1). Blood replacements: R Feeney (0-1) for Keegan, A Freeman for Varley, C Boyle for McLoughlin. Subs: J Gibbons for Feeney, S McHale for Keane, K McLoughlin for Doherty, S O'Shea (0-1) for A O'Shea, P Gardiner for Freeman.
Dublin: S Cluxton (0-3, 0-3 '45s'), M Fitzsimons, R O'Carroll, C O'Sullivan; J McCarthy, G Brennan, K Nolan; E Fennell, D Bastick; P Flynn (0-2), MD Macauley, B Cullen; C Kilkenny (0-3), D Connolly (0-2), B Brogan 0-6 (0-6 frees). Subs: A Brogan for Cullen, P McMahon for Fitzsimons, E O'Gara for Bastick, K McManamon for A Brogan, C Dias for Fennell.

This Year's Clashes…
This will be the third clash between the counties this year, having already met twice in the Allianz League. Dublin won both the Division 1 group game and the semi-final Dublin 2-14 Mayo 0-16 (2 March, Croke Park) Bernard Brogan scored 1-10 (1-4 from open play) on a night when Dublin led by 1-8 to 0-8 at half-time. Mayo rallied early in the second half and took the lead (0-13 to 1-9). Dublin had Ger Brennan sent off but they made light of the numerical disadvantage and a goal by sub, Kevin McManamon helped them on their way to a four point win.

Scorers: Dublin: Bernard Brogan 1-10 (0-5 frees, 0-1 sideline), Kevin McManamon 1-1, Paddy Andrews 0-2, Cian O'Sullivan 0-1.
Mayo: Jason Doherty 0-6 (0-3 frees); Lee Keegan 0-3, Kevin McLoughlin 0-3 (0-2 frees), Enda Varley 0-2, Michael Conroy 0-1, Aidan O'Shea 0-1.

Dublin 2-16 Mayo 0-16 (14 April, Croke Park)
The scores were pretty similar from the group clash when they met again in the League semi-final. This time, Dublin scored two points more than in the first game while Mayo returned 0-16 for a second time. Dublin blitzed Mayo in the first quarter and goals by Paul Mannion and Jason Whelan helped them into a 2-4 to 0-3 lead after 20 minutes. They led by 2-9 to 0-8 at half-time. Mayo won the second half by 0-8 to 0-7 but Dublin never looked in any danger as they advanced to the final with relative ease.

Scorers: Dublin: Paul Mannion 1-4 (0-1 free), Bernard Brogan 0-5 (0-1 free), Jason Whelan
1-1, Diarmuid Connolly 0-3, Stephen Cluxton 0-1 (free), Darren Daly 0-1, Jack McCaffrey 0-1.
Mayo: Cillian O'Connor 0-8 (0-7 frees), Michael Conroy 0-3, Aidan O'Shea 0-2, Cathal Carolan 0-1, Jason Gibbons 0-1, Kevin McLoughlin 0-1 (free).

GAA ALL-IRELAND SF ROLL OF HONOUR
36 - Kerry (1903-04-09-13-14-24-26-29-30-31-32-37-39-40-41-46-53-55-59-62-69-70-75-78-79-80-81-84-85-86-97-2000-2004-2006-2007-2009)
23 - DUBLIN (1891-92-97-98-99-1901-02-06-07-08-21-22-23-42-58-63-74-76-77-83-95-
2011)
9 - Galway (1925-34-38-56-64-65-66-98-2001)
7 - Meath (1949-54-67-87-88-96-99)
7 - Cork (1890-1911-45-73-89-90-2010)
5 - Down (1960-61-68-91-94)
5 - Cavan (1933-35-47-48-52)
5 - Wexford (1893-1915-16-17-18)
4 - Kildare (1905-19-27-28)
4- Tipperary (1889-95-1900-1920)
3 - Louth (1910-12-57)
3 - MAYO (1936-50-51)
3 - Offaly (1971-72-82)
3- Tyrone (2003-2005-2008)
2 - Limerick (1887-1896)
2 - Roscommon (1943-44)
2- Donegal (1992-2012)
1 - Armagh (2002)
1 - Derry (1993)

All-Ireland Final Briefs
*It's 62 years since Mayo last won the All-Ireland title. Since then, Kerry (20), Dublin (8), Galway (6), Meath (6), Down (5), Cork (4), Offaly (3), Tyrone (3), Donegal (2), Cavan (1), Louth (1), Armagh (1), Derry (1).

*Dublin are seeking their 24th crown, a success that would leave them twelve behind Roll of Honour leaders, Kerry and fifteen ahead of third-placed Galway.

*For the third year in a row, the final will be between two counties who won their provincial titles.

*Both sides have returned very high scores on their way to the final. Mayo averaged 3-16 per game in their five outings while Dublin averaged 2-18 in their five outings.

2013 Championship Top Scorers
2013 TOP CHAMPIONSHIP SCORERS
Martin Dunne (Cavan)...................1-33 (36pts)
Cillian O'Connor (Mayo).............6-14 (32pts)
Mickey Newman (Meath)............1-27 (30pts)
Daniel Goulding (Cork).............1-27 (30pts)
Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone)............0-29 (29 pts)
Darren McCurry (Tyrone).........0-28 (28 pts)
Michael Meehan (Galway).......2-22 (28pts)
Colm Cooper (Kerry)...............1-23 (26pts)
Sean McCormack (Longford)..0-24 (24pts)
Lorcan Mulvey (London)........2-18 (24pts)
Colm McFadden (Donegal).....2-18 (24pts) Tweet

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