A FREE KICK taken from 40 metres by Maurice Sheridan out of his hands three minutes into injury time gave Mayo a share of the points in yesterday's Church & General National Football League Division Two match at Castlebar, before a crowd of about 6,000. It was probably more a matter of relief than elation for Sheridan who had earlier missed a 13 metre free from in front of the posts.

So, for the second successive match, Dublin were nailed on the very verge of victory and Mickey Whelan's wait for a first win of the season will endure at least until Clare visit the capital in a fortnight.

That aside, it wasn't a bad day for the Dublin manager. Mayo's almost preternatural capacity to shoot wides might have been the main reason Dublin got even a point but the visitors fought hard to overcome the handicap of being a man short after Eamonn Heery was given the line in the 33rd minute for elbowing Sheridan in what appeared to be a sensitive region of his anatomy.

Heery could have walked in the first half for drawing a kick at his opponent, but referee Pat Casserley contented himself with a warning.

In addition to the point taken home, Whelan had the satisfaction of seeing Joe McNally - whose cause he has tirelessly promoted - play an effective role in the closing minutes after being introduced as a substitute. "He's a good footballer, isn't he?" was the manager's reaction.

Throw in the other results in the division, which saw a tightening up at both ends of the table and leaves Dublin joint bottom but still only two points off the lead, and there was reason for some satisfaction for Whelan.

"I thought it was a good performance from our point of view, he said. "We were unlucky at the end not to win it. This time we didn't fade, we got stronger as the game went on.

Dublin started strongly and were 0-3 to nil ahead after six minutes. Dessie Farrell was giving Kevin Cahill an unpleasant afternoon and Charlie Redmond's return to competitive action was marked by an early spell of productivity, although he tired as the match progressed.

Mayo hauled back the deficit without too much trouble and for the remainder of the first half looked the more accomplished team, creating good moves and finishing them well - running up only two wides in the opening half hour.

Pat Fallon was the best of the four midfielders on view. Of his Dublin counterparts, Brian Stynes didn't look fully recovered from the knock he received in a recent club match and Paul Bealin suffered a knee injury which required his substitution and is likely to keep him out of Dublin's remaining match before Christmas.

Whereas Whelan's satisfaction with the result was easy to understand, his long term contentment is probably more questionable.

"I think it's moving along nicely," he said afterwards. "When they needed to, they kept possession and worked extra hard to shut men down. The performance was far more important than the points from our point of view. We're looking at a Leinster championship and we just have to get back into our winning ways.

There were some positive points in the contribution of younger players. Paddy Christie - whom injury deprived of a likely place in last year's All Ireland winning team - played well at corner back after being brought on in the 24th minute. Up front, Ciaran Whelan was again prominent and continues to look a good prospect, although maybe not at centre forward.

Elsewhere, though, the overall effect was disjointed - particularly up front where they seldom create goal opportunities and where Farrell's deployment at full forward diminishes the creativity of the half forwards.

Mayo will be annoyed at dropping more points because of poor finishing in the second half. Having led 0-6 to 0-5 at half time, they maintained their narrow lead for most of the second half But when Whelan and Farrell levelled the scores with less than 10 minutes left, Mayo panicked.

Good chances were missed - principally by Sheridan and Michael Gardiner - and then with three minutes of normal time remaining, McNally swung over what looked like the winner.

Mayo manager John Maughan is missing nearly half a team because of the All Ireland replay suspensions and was unsurprisingly philosophical. "In the circumstances a point was reasonable," he said.