IT MIGHT have been the gap between the first and third divisions, the march of time or simply Downs being Down, but Kerry's emphatic win in yesterday's Church & General quarter final has to be seen in the context of grossly inadequate opposition.
Down had said that they would regard yesterday's match as an accurate indicator of their standing after a winter in Division Three. If so, there will be considerable trepidation in the camp at the prospect of facing champions Tyrone - even allowing for their end of season fizzle-out - in the Ulster preliminary round in six weeks.
Caught between the clamps of superannuation and an insufficiency of plausible replacements, the All Ireland champions of 1991 and 94 looked in disarray. Only Mickey Linden at corner forward showed the familiar quality as he kicked three points from play and provided the attack with virtually all its menace.
Other survivors of better times fared less well. Ross Carr left the field injured after 14 minutes. The prodigal trio of James McCartan, Peter Withnell and Greg Blaney all made appearances, although, having just rejoined the panel, to predictably little effect. Conor Deegan spent the afternoon as a fireman, rushing from one blazing crisis to the next.
As Down have had generally poor Leagues during their best championship decade since the 1960s, there will be a temptation to dismiss the significance of the performance, but that would be to ignore obvious and inevitable signs of decline.
Nonetheless, there was much to hearten Kerry. Their defence was fairly tight and although the jury is still out on Liam Flaherty as a centre back, Barry O'Shea showed encouragingly at full back.
Centrefield improved greatly in the second half and featured an outstanding display by William Kirby whose form has been brought on significantly by his triumphant Sigerson Cup campaign with Tralee RTC. Playing very far forward at times, he picked off three good points and expertly placed Pa Laide for the 57th minute goal which put the tin hat on the afternoon's events.
In attack, the full forward line was more impressive. Maurice Fitzgerald, memorably described by one Ulster football personality as too much beauty, too little beast", took us through his beautiful repertoire of near flawless place kicking, magical ball control and elegant score taking to end the afternoon with nine points. He was less involved in the rampant conclusion to the afternoon, but by that stage his work was done and the barrage of points which had effectively steered Kerry to the semi finals had been the key contribution of the match.
With his team mates' confidence developing nicely, Fitzgerald must be looking forward to a summer during which he won't carry quite as heavy a burden as weighed on him late in last year's championship.
Dara O Cinneide had a fine match at full forward, getting out to ball quickly and playing a prominent role in the second half as Kerry, pulling away on the scoreboard, sharpened up their passing movements and cut Down to ribbons. Beside him, Genie Farrell caused the usual panic as he darted to and fro, drawing fouls and defenders in almost equal measure.
Manager Paidi O Se's only concern after the match was that both Farrell and OCinneide had suffered ankle injuries which necessitated their replacement in the second half.
In terms of improvement, it had been noticed in Kerry that the players are using the ball more effectively and with greater deliberation than last year and this was plain to see yesterday. The quality of passing, both kicked and by hand, was impressive and indicated both awareness and vision.
For all the plaudits, Kerry took a while to get going. In the first quarter, they quickly compiled a heap of wides and despite a good flow of possession, allowed Down to take an early grip on the scoreboard.
By the 15th minute, Down led 0-4 to 0-2 and were doing plausible imitations of crafty old pros who could roll with the punches and hit back on the break. Kerry's attempts going forward were by contrast laboured and uneconomical.
Coincidence or not, Carr's departure came just as Down's prospects were peaking. Between the 18th minute and half time, Fitzgerald took over and was responsible for all but one of Kerry's unanswered sequence of five points - the fifth a majestic kick after inter changing with Farrell - which pushed them three points clear 0-7 to 0-4, at the interval.
Resuming where he had left off, Fitzgerald opened the second half with a point after 30 seconds and despite Shorty Treanor's frees keeping Down within a score of Kerry after 40 minutes, Fitzgerald again intervened to stretch the lead to 0-12 to 0-7 with two quick points.
Down had re jigged their defence at half time, with Conor Deegan moving to centrefield from corner back where he had been trying to limit the Fitzgerald damage. Jarlath Austin moved to centre back and Sean Ward dropped back to the corner.
By the beginning of the final quarter with the match steaming out of view, it was decided to introduce Withnell and Blaney. Withnell went centrefield and although he gathered a bit of possession, little came of it. It seemed strange to deploy the 1991 full forward so far from the area, where his goal scoring potential (one of his main assets) would be maximised, to a role where creative use of the ball (not hitherto one of his main assets) would be most important.
Down will have much to ponder in the weeks ahead while Kerry have another date at Croke Park in a fortnight. The confidence with which they moved will be as welcome as the result which helps redress the county's woeful history at HQ this decade. It was only the county's second victory in eight outings at the venue - he first being another win over Down, also in a NFL quarter final, four years ago.
They now play Laois for a place in their first League final in 10 years.
