Donegal 1-8 Kerry 1-7: If Colm Cooper managed to catch this match in some bar in Tombstone, Arizona, or listened to Weeshie Fogarty's broadcast on an Internet connection near the Grand Canyon, he must have raised a bottle of Rolling Rock in salute of his erstwhile team-mates.
No matter how lost the Killarney man manages to become on his travels through the American interior, he will do well to discover anywhere as forlorn as was Ballybofey on Saturday night. Even the floodlights were shivering in Mac Cumhaill Park.
Despite the mud and rain, the All-Ireland champions and the National League champions produced an entertaining, hard and admirably clean game of football to launch the new season. 3,000 showed up, most of them dressed like Scott heading to Antarctica.
Donegal, in keeping with their perverse sense of humour, managed to repeat the summer trick they played on Armagh, stinging Kerry with a blink-and-you-miss-it injury-time goal that was both unbelievable and absurd.
Colm McFadden lobbed a last-gasp free in the general direction of the Kerry goal, and the ball skidded off Eoin Brosnan's glove and ripped merrily into the net. The home crowd hooted. Big Kieran Donaghy cast off his jersey in disgust, shook an opponent's hand and took big, loping steps toward the dressingroom.
Brian McIver grinned wryly and acknowledged his team are making a habit of madcap larceny.
"The Armagh goal was down the other end. We like to vary it, just to keep the crowd on their toes. But over the course of the game, I felt the least we deserved was a draw. We had some serious chances. Listen, we couldn't have argued if Kerry left here with two points . . . because they were clinical. But we kept battling away."
It was a fair assessment. Kerry, operating with 14 men from the 20th minute, gave a smart and exceptionally honest performance. For all the shimmering stuff they can put on in late August, they aren't above grafting for a filthy league win. The sheer work-rate of the reigning footballer of the year Marc Ó Sé, last year's captain Declan O'Sullivan and young David Moran told us as much about Kerry as the opportunist goal from Donaghy or the mesmerising early free-kicks from Bryan Sheehan.
As defeats go, this one was useful for manager Pat O'Shea. The fashion of their scalping provides nice evidence for O'Shea to present that being Kerry does not guarantee victory. It also suggests they will struggle at midfield in the absence of Darragh Ó Sé. Big Neil Gallagher caught the eye in the crowded middle sector. Kevin Cassidy was also in dominant form.
But Kerry had to throw away the game plan after losing Tom O'Sullivan. The Rathmore man had started brightly and was unlucky to pick up his first yellow card but he had looked uneasy under the high ball raining down on Colm McFadden. When Kevin "Wappa" McMenamin nipped on to a loose clearance, O'Sullivan tripped him and walked.
Diarmuid Murphy saved McFadden's penalty and then watched McFadden strike a free off the post. Kerry were dazed but it stayed at three points apiece and once they sacrificed poor Seán O'Sullivan for Tomás Ó Sé, it was back to business.
What did we learn about Donegal? They seem to have an endless supply of fast, skilful corner backs, Paddy McDaid a personification of that breed.
At times, they moved the ball through the Kerry defence with persuasive smoothness, but they tend to complicate the fundamental business of clipping the ball over the bar.
Ryan Bradley looks a good find at full forward and the form of Brian Roper, one of the longest-serving intercounty players in the game, deserved applause. He plundered a huge amount of possession and was always available; the shame was he didn't garland a fine night with a score.
In fact, McFadden and Bradley aside, none of the Donegal forwards seemed eager to have a crack. It was significant their full-back line outscored the half-forward line.
But after Tomás Ó Sé cracked an exquisite point in the 72nd minute, the Kerrymen looked to have done enough. That score followed a minute of sustained possession, when Kerry played keep-ball in a manner redolent of last summer's victory over Dublin.
It should have been enough to convince Donegal it was not their night but they had the courage to build again and were rewarded so richly they could hardly believe it.
"That's football. That's sport. You have to take these things," reasoned Pat O'Shea.
If this is the worst fate that befalls Kerry this season, they won't complain in the long run.
DONEGAL: P Durcan; K Lacey (0-1), N McGee, P McDaid (0-1); K Cassidy, E McGee, F McGlynn; N Gallagher, C Bonner; C Toye, D Walsh, B Roper; C McFadden (1-2, one free), R Bradley (0-3, one free), K McMenamin (0-1). Subs: S McGowan for F McGlynn (inj, 32 mins), K Rafferty for K Bonner (inj, 51 mins), G McFadden for C Toye (66 mins).
KERRY: D Murphy; M Ó Sé, T O'Sullivan, P Reid; T Griffin, A O'Mahony, K Young; M Quirke, S Scanlon; E Brosnan, D O'Sullivan (0-1), D Moran; S O'Sullivan, K Donaghy (1-0), B Sheehan (0-5, frees). Subs: T Ó Sé (0-1)for S O'Sullivan (23 mins), P O'Connor for S Scanlon (57 mins), K O'Leary for D Moran (69 mins).
Referee: M Duffy(Sligo).
