Kerry 0-12 Dublin 0-13: Just like this time last year, Kerry's league campaign ended with players loitering on the pitch, waiting on the final score from elsewhere to conclude their fate. Unlike last year, they got the word they wanted, edging out Tyrone on points difference. Mayo, of all teams, had done them a favour.

With a draw also enough for Kerry, they'll meet Laois and Mick O'Dwyer next Sunday, probably in Limerick. A place in the league final beckons. The daffodils are in bloom and summer is coming on and that's the immediate consequences of this game.

As usual, though, this Kerry-Dublin rivalry rises above mere league points, throws in something extra. While they won't mention this one along with the classics, they will talk about that time Colm ("the Gooch") Cooper appeared in the second half, six days after the sudden death of his father, Mike.

Kerry were down by two, 0-8 to 0-10. Dublin were lording midfield, Kerry had scored once in the second half. The timing of the Gooch's arrival couldn't have been orchestrated any better, nor could the roar of Kerry approval among the 8,078 crowd.

Here's what happened. The Gooch has to wait a little for his first touch, but with it he sets up Ronan O'Connor for a point. With his second touch he bounces the ball with that trademark razzle-dazzle and then boots it left-footed clean between the posts. Kerry are level, with 15 minutes left to play.

The rest of the game was like an epilogue to all that. Kerry quickly went two points clear, before Dublin equalised again just as quickly. Level going into the last five minutes, late frees for Bryan Sheehan and a later one by Conal Keaney ensured it stayed that way. Fair enough. Dublin's 24-year wait for a win in Kerry continues.

When we find Kerry manager Jack O'Connor afterwards, he too is thinking about the Gooch: "Look, I can't speak highly enough about what he did. It's obviously been a very difficult week for him, and he hasn't got a lot of sleep. I just said to him this morning to come up and he'd give us all a lift. But we didn't think we'd get as much out of him as we did, because he certainly contributed there at the end."

Dublin manager Paul Caffrey had this to say: "Sure I'd pay money to see that fella myself. After the week he's had, it's just great credit to the guy. He's one of the special talents in the GAA and every day you see him play is a pleasure. And I'd wish him well."

And that's the inspiring moment of this game out of the way. The Gooch's appearance possibly saved Kerry, but also underlined the consequences of his absence. Up to that point, Kerry's scoring was ragged. Paul Galvin hit two nice points in the first half, and Declan O'Sullivan did well to add one as he was clearly carrying a leg injury. After that . . .

The return of Séamus Moynihan with all his vigour and springiness was a plus (motivating point included), and Sheehan's return from a long lay-off to hit the late free was also timely.

But Darragh Ó Sé couldn't maintain his latest resurgence at midfield, and his brother Tomás left the field at half-time with an ankle injury. With Mike McCarthy also injured, Kerry won't be savouring this meeting with Laois.

"The funny thing is, we played a lot better this time last year," added O'Connor, "and didn't qualify. Dublin looked to have the legs on us for long stretches in the second half, but that's to be expected, because we're only training one night a week.

"It was all about grinding out a result if we could. So in a way the result was more important than the performance."

While Kerry seemed stuck in one of their lower gears, Dublin drifted and then surged over the 70 minutes. Desperately slow to get going (where would they have been had it started at 3.30?) they were chasing a 0-6 to 0-2 deficit after 26 minutes, surviving on Mark Vaughan's place-kicking.

Dublin's forwards just weren't seeing any ball, with Jason Sherlock's lucky score on the half hour their first from play, helping to close it to 0-7 to 0-5 in time for the break.

Somehow the Dublin forwards came on more business-like in the second half. Vaughan's penalty after a foul on Cullen was well saved, but a point from Shane Ryan, who was now motoring at midfield, and frees from Vaughan and Keaney pushed them a point clear. Kerry levelled it again at 0-8, before Vaughan and Brogan pushed Dublin into a winning position - halted, as we know, by the Gooch.

"Yeah, I'd see it as a game we should have won," added Caffrey. " Some days you'd come away with a draw and you'd be happy, but we're disappointed. The bottom line is Kerry are in the league semi-finals, and Dublin stay mid-table. That's the end we didn't want."

KERRY: D Murphy; A O'Mahony, M Ó Sé, T O'Sullivan; T Ó Sé, S Moynihan (0-1), M Lyons; D Ó Sé, K Donaghy; P Galvin (0-3), E Fitzmaurice, E Brosnan; D O'Sullivan (0-1), R O'Connor (0-2), MF Russell (0-3, one free). Subs: S O'Sullivan (0-1) for T Ó Sé (half-time, inj), C Cooper (0-1) for Donaghy (43 mins), P Kelly for O'Sullivan (58 mins, inj), D O'Sullivan for Russell (63 mins), B Sheehan (0-1, free) for O'Connor (65 mins).

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; N O'Shea, B Cahill, D Henry; P Casey, C Goggins, P Griffin; S Ryan (0-1), D Magee; D Lally, J Sherlock (0-1), B Cullen; A Brogan (0-2), C Keaney (0-4, three frees), M Vaughan (0-5, four frees, '45). Subs: R Cosgrove for Lally (60 mins), D O'Callaghan for Sherlock (63 mins), B Brogan for Vaughan (72 mins).

Referee: B Crowe (Cavan).