All-Ireland SFC Final Kerry 4-15 Mayo 3-05: In years to come eyes perusing the records will glaze over at the entry for the 2006 Bank of Ireland All-Ireland football final. Maybe the peruser will wince at the memory or if they don't remember it, speculate that it can't have been much fun for Mayo or the neutrals.
Nor was it. Instead of revising the roll of honour to reflect the national yearning - outside of Kerry - for Mayo to bridge the 55-year gap since the county's last All-Ireland, there was the grimmer task of working out when a final had last been so one-sided.
The answer to that is 1978 when Kerry razed Dublin's three-in-a-row ambitions by 17 points. Even the consensus optimism that the final would be at least competitive and a major advance on the wipe-out of two years previously lay in tatters by the end.
Watched by an attendance of 82,289, Kerry did what they had to do impressively, making their strengths pay and subjecting Mayo to the heat and intensity of football as it is played by those with realistic All-Ireland credentials.
It's never been the Kerry way to sentimentalise All-Irelands.Before last year's titanic final with Tyrone, manager Jack O'Connor played down suggestions that to beat the northerners would make any title particularly sweet, saying: "It's not as if they're giving two All-Irelands out for this."
Accordingly, yesterday counts as one more title, bringing the county's haul to 34. It also brings the third of the decade, satisfactorily maintaining the strike rate that has made Kerry football's brand leaders for over a century.
How was the consensus so wrong? Mayo's pulsating comeback and victory over Dublin in the semi-final had created an enthusiasm for the Connacht champions' prospects compared to 2004. There would have been few takers for the grim prospect of this year actually been considerably worse.
Yet that's how it turned out. And the instruments of destruction were much the same. Aerial bombardment laid waste to Mayo two years ago; this time the devastation was merely intensified.
Just as in that final, most of the westerners' top names were ruthlessly subdued and the team as a whole couldn't live with Kerry's dominant defence - apart from a brief and surreal coda before half-time - despite the new champions again looking vulnerable to a running offence.
The central challenge facing Mickey Moran's side was how to cope with Kieran Donaghy's presence on the edge of the square. For those queasy about how the largely similar full-back line had struggled against the comparatively unimposing threats of Dara Ó Cinnéide and John Crowley, the worst fears sprang to life from an early stage.
Plan B was triggered shortly after Donaghy had soared in the ninth minute to pluck a high ball from Tommy Griffin out of the air and lashed a kick past David Clarke. James Nallen was replaced in the 11th minute, in all likelihood an unhappy conclusion to a distinguished career, after Declan O'Sullivan had opened strongly, gliding through on a one-two with Donaghy to clip Kerry's first goal in the seventh minute.
Captain David Heaney moved up to centre back and veteran centrefielder David Brady came in at full back to try to get a grip on Donaghy. For a while the switch looked promising after Brady had survived the first couple of balls but normal service was quickly restored and anxiety rippled through the Mayo support every time an early delivery began to plummet down on the square.
Mayo were scoreless for over 20 minutes. The nearest they came was a run from the back by corner back Keith Higgins who sprayed the ball considerably wide at the end of his journey.
Ciarán McDonald was unable to exert the influence the team have become accustomed to. Well marked by the tireless Aidan O'Mahony - who punished McDonald's tendency to drift deep by bagging a couple of points while he was up there - the Mayo playmaker had a barren afternoon and kicked three wides in the second half.
But this was a systems failure by the Connacht side.
After the Midas touch of the semi-final, Moran watched as everything he attempted turned to dust. Alan Dillon, a contender for footballer of the year at the throw-in, was struggling for his All Star by the time of his 47th-minute withdrawal so restrictive had been Marc Ó Sé's attentions.
Kevin O'Neill accompanied Dillon off the field, in some ways a strange switch given O'Neill's composure and the two goals he had opportunistically scored.
For a unit that conceded three goals, Kerry's defence was well on top. At its heart, Séamus Moynihan gave another excellent display on top of his semi-final performance. He mightn't have the pace any more but he reads the game so well his positioning anticipates danger and his strength on the ball makes him the epitome of secure tidying-up.
Mayo's defence, conversely, was in bits. Not alone was Donaghy continuing to provide the same service as Kerry have learned to expect since moving him to full forward - he was central to 2-4 as well as his personal tally of 1-2 - but the rest of the attack was creating stresses and pressures on their beleaguered opponents.
Declan O'Sullivan was a hive of activity, gathering ball and taking on the defence, building and finishing attacks in a performance that made his early-season difficulties seem very remote. Paul Galvin grafted as hard as ever and processed plenty of ball.
A further unease for Mayo had been the possibility that Colm Cooper would rediscover form after a low-key year and he chipped in 1-2, the team's third goal coming in the 26th minute after Clarke had pushed the initial attempt on to the post only for Cooper to pick up the rebound and make no mistake the second time of asking.
Sniping on the fringes, the Crokes forward caused plenty of problems and was serially fouled in the 42nd minute, the worst challenge coming from Aidan Higgins, who was a beneficiary of referee Brian Crowe's overly lenient officiating - an indulgence that culminated in a blizzard of yellow cards in the second half, as matters threatened to get out of hand.
Cooper's goal made the score a massive 3-6 to 1-0, Mayo's goal having been well taken by O'Neill after Higgins had broken from defence. For half an hour that was one of Mayo's only two scores - the other a point from Billy Joe Padden, who was the most involved Mayo forward of the first half.
But there followed before the break a bizarre interlude during which Moran's team managed two goals in a minute. Pat Harte combined with O'Neill for the first and seconds later after McDonald's shot had come off the post, O'Neill again was well positioned to help himself to the rebound.
At the break there was a weird feeling that although Kerry still led by six, 3-8 to 3-2, the match had turned into something of a cliffhanger. No such luck, however, and Mayo managed a princely total of three points, all from Conor Mortimer frees, in the second half.
Eoin Brosnan, controversially dropped by Kerry, came on after half-time replacing the out-of-sorts Tomás Ó Sé, with Griffin dropping back to defence. Brosnan's running bothered Mayo and he ended up with 1-1, the goal an injury-time gloss brought about by a strong run and delicate finish after the unfortunate Clarke had again saved the initial attempt.
Mayo ran down the bench with much the same replacements as had worked so well against Dublin. But nothing worked yesterday.
KERRY: 1. D Murphy; 3. M McCarthy, 4. T O'Sullivan, 7. A O'Mahony (0-2); 6. S Moynihan (0-1), 2. M Ó Sé, 5. T Ó Sé; 8. D Ó Sé, 9. T Griffin; 10. S O'Sullivan (0-1), 11. D O'Sullivan (capt; 1-2), 12. P Galvin (0-1); 13. C Cooper (1-2), 14. K Donaghy (1-2), 15. MF Russell (0-2, one free). Subs: 17. E Brosnan (1-1) for T Ó Sé (half-time), 18. Darren O'Sullivan for S O'Sullivan (52 mins), 20. B Sheehan (0-1, free) for Russell (62 mins), 19. E Fitzmaurice for Griffin (67 mins), 22. B Guiney for O'Mahony (70 mins).
MAYO: 1. D Clarke; 2. D Geraghty, 3. D Heaney (capt), 4. K Higgins; 7. P Gardiner, 6. J Nallen, 5. A Higgins; 8. R McGarrity, 9. P Harte (1-0); 10. BJ Padden (0-1), 12. A Dillon, 11. G Brady; 15. C McDonald (0-1, free), 14. C Mortimer (0-3, frees), 13. K O'Neill (2-0). Subs: 30. D Brady for Nallen (11 mins), 21. B Moran for O'Neill (47 mins), 28. T Mortimer for Dillon (47 mins), 23. A Kilcoyne for Padden (52 mins), 22. A Moran for Gardiner (60 mins).
Referee: B Crowe (Cavan).
