It would not be a big day at Croke Park for Mayo without pain for their long-suffering fans – and it came early this year during a nervy opening 15 minutes when Kerry threatened to dart off into the distance.
With the always-excellent Paudie Clifford influential early on, Kerry feasted on Mayo nerves to register the game’s three opening scores, with David Clifford striking twice after Dylan Casey fisted over the bar.
It could have been worse for Mayo, who breathed a sigh of relief when Sean O’Brien shot wide after receiving a Sean O’Shea fist pass and turning sharply to outfox his marker Bob Tuohy.
While David McBrien delivered a nerve-settling score for Mayo, the high-pressing Westerners kicked a succession of shots short during the opening quarter as they favoured low-percentage efforts in a bid to ramp up scoreboard pressure.
Kerry’s scores seemed to come easier, and when a Sean O’Shea effort was followed by Clifford sneaking in behind Donnacha McHugh, rounding Jack Livingstone and blasting the ball into the net, there was a sense that the game was already slipping away from the Connacht county.
But back they came. Armed with ferocious intent and a forward line ravenous for turnover ball, Mayo rattled Kerry during a period when they clawed back from seven points down to revive their hopes.
Suddenly it was Kerry shots going awry, with David Clifford’s two-point free missing after Jack Carney had raised an orange flag at the Hill 16 end.
While Sean O’Shea fisted a score to put Kerry 1-6 to 0-3 up, Ryan O’Donoghue’s superb two-pointer, coupled with Tommy Conroy’s introduction for Paul Towey, breathed new life into the Mayo cause.
Indeed, after Darragh Beirne and O’Donoghue frees and a Sam Callinan score, Kerry’s lead was cut to one at 1-6 to 0-8. After Tom O’Sullivan’s score, Beirne and Conroy struck to draw Mayo level, although a cleverly worked point from totemic Kingdom midfielder Joe O’Connor ensured Kerry held a slender advantage at the break.
