Having apparently settled for a simple theme - Kerry's economical forwards against Armagh's prodigals - this extraordinary Bank of Ireland All-Ireland football semi-final convulsed in the last minute and twisted backwards and forwards in its four minutes of injury-time.
This match was extraordinary because of its combination of the expected and the unexpected, its capacity to suggest strongly one trend before lurching in the opposite direction. Kerry and their outnumbered supporters in the crowd of 50,449 watched as their fortunes went from boom to bust not merely over 70 minutes but in the space of less than 60 seconds before equilibrium was finally restored.
The sight of Maurice Fitzgerald standing over a 40-metre free to save the day would have been an unthinkable prospect little over five minutes into the match when the Munster champions had raced to a six-point lead, 1-3 to 0-0. In the end it was about as reassuring as it could be given the inaccuracy of some of Kerry's free-taking and the inexplicable failure to mobilise Fitzgerald for an earlier free in the 61st minute when Noel Kennelly, kicking out of his hands, sent the chance wide.
At that stage Fitzgerald had been on the field about 20 minutes and had just scored a delightful goal - gliding through the cover before calmly placing the ball past Armagh goalkeeper Benny Tierney. This looked to have sealed the verdict for Kerry. Instead, the drama was only beginning.
Armagh initially responded like a beaten team. Cathal O'Rourke narrowed the gap with a pointed free but thereafter, the Ulster champions contrived a series of panicky wides which appeared to signal that their nerve was gone.
Instead of settling down and going for the kill, Kerry fell back and allowed their opponents to come at them. They were facilitated by referee John Bannon, who gave a sequence of debatable - not necessarily wrong - frees in favour of Armagh. An awful lot of borderline decisions went against Kerry - the refusal of a 57th-minute penalty claim after John Crowley looked to have been brought down being the most dramatic.
None of this seemed to matter as the clock counted down towards the last minute of normal time. Then, with Armagh frantic for a goal, Kerry's defence allowed Oisin McConville and Diarmuid Marsden to combine and find Andrew McCann up on a desperate sortie from wing back. McCann was able to dodge a defender and finish to the net.
With the match in injury-time, McConville found an opening and offloaded to Kieran McGeeney, also up from the half backs as his team scented blood. The captain was the person anyone in the county would have chosen for the chance. Forced wide on the left, he floated over the point that gave Armagh a sight of September in Croke Park for the first time in 23 years.
It was only a matter of holding out for a couple of minutes but they lost their composure and dropped a second chance short - ironically after a wasteful afternoon, it was one occasion when they could have done with a wide. Eventually the equaliser came after a late challenge on Denis Dwyer caused a free to be awarded straight in front of goal, 40 metres out and with one of the all-time great dead-ball kickers on hand to capitalise.
After all the turmoil had died down, most reflected that it would have been unjust for Kerry to lose but palm-tree justice is a thin shield in competitive sport.
In the end a match that had been anticipated as a battle between Kerry's high-scoring forwards and Armagh's chain-mail cover turned out that way. In the contest between defensive shortcomings, there was something for everyone. During Kerry's opening blitzkrieg, Armagh looked in terrible trouble in the full-back line and as the game tightened, Kerry's half lines disintegrated, as they had in the second half of the Munster semi-final against Cork.
Seamus Moynihan's deployment at full back showcased his immense authority as a player. His loss to the half backs is all too obvious - but he performed magnificently on the inside line.
Although Tony McEntee gave him anxious moments in the air, Moynihan was at times a one-man defence, covering, blocking and tackling, never over-committing himself in case he would be needed somewhere else to repel again the same attacking movement.
In the left corner, Michael McCarthy worked his passage and on the wings, Tomas O Se and Tom O'Sullivan had their moments. But as a unit Kerry weren't able to spike the grinding wheels of Armagh's packed midfield. In the centre, Dara O Se and Donal Daly lost their early edge and Paul McGrane won good possession. John McEntee got onto the usual supply of ball but his distribution fell short of his customary high standards.
Nonetheless in the 50th minute, his lofted free was broken by brother Tony for Diarmuid Marsden to take and his snapshot was excellently saved by Declan O'Keeffe - a companion piece to Tierney's stop from O Cinneide in the opening minute at the same end.
Armagh must have dreaded having their cupboard ransacked at the start. But that's what happened. McCann conceded a penalty in the second minute despite uncertainty over the precise location of the foul on Crowley. It was confidently dispatched by Dara O Cinneide - his third penalty of the championship - and by the sixth minute Kerry were six points clear with their opponents still not off the mark.
It was one of the match's paradoxes that Armagh proved better at hunting down big leads than turning the regained parity to their advantage. Although they drew level on six occasions, it was only with McGeeney's point that they took the lead. At level scores they were frequently jittery, as in last year's semi-final against Meath, and more than doubled Kerry's total of wides.
Yet faced with four, five and six-point deficits they knuckled down and pulled back from the brink. In the ninth minute Paddy McKeever opened up Kerry down the right and set up Barry O'Hagan for Armagh's first goal which put the contest back on track.
Twice more Kerry opened four-point leads but Armagh chiselled them out and now both sides must start all over again next Saturday week.
