The fella tracked down by RTÉ on O'Connell Street before the game talked of the drought Kerry had endured since their last All-Ireland final appearance. "And three years is a lifetime," he said. The parts of Ireland who'd need a satnav to find Croke Park most probably chucked their cups of tea at their tellies, but he was only little, so he was speaking almost literally.

Meanwhile, the wee Donegal fella stationed behind Marty Morrissey down the road was experiencing his second All-Ireland final in three years, so he probably regarded that 12 month gap as a famine, 2013 an unprecedented wilderness in his county's footballing history.

Ciaran Whelan envied the pair of them. "It's the closest I'll get to Sam on an All-Ireland Sunday," he said, pointing to Mr Maguire in the corner of RTÉ's Croke Park studio. "There's only a little Derry man between me and the cup – and I've picked bigger things off the sole of my shoe than Joe Brolly. "

Heated debate

Up and running then, the minor final visible over the shoulders of the panel, prompting a flick-a-rama between

TG4

and RTÉ to see that particular contest while trying not to miss the senior build-up chat. Manchester United weren’t playing yesterday, so there was no need for a triple flick-a-rama between TG4, RTÉ and Sky.

After a brief heated debate between Joe and Colm O’Rourke over whether or not Michael Murphy was the finest player of his generation – Joe insisting the “rhinoceros” most certainly was, Colm arguing that he was a pussy cat next to the likes of the Gooch (we’re paraphrasing) – it was prediction time. Grim news for Donegal: all three of the panel tipped them, as did 55 per cent of the folk who voted in RTÉ’s poll, but the Kingdom’s spirits were soon dampened when Pat Spillane declared: “The closer I’m getting to the game, I’m thinking it’s Kerry.”

A slow enough start they had too, Paul Geaney's goal not coming until the 50th second, but it evened up before half-time, the fieriest contest not so much the Anthony Maher and David Moran v Neil Gallagher and Odhran MacNiallais midfield battle, more Twitter v Ger Canning. Karl Lacey, the machine reminded him, was the Donegal centre back, not @CarolLacey, who is, in fact, a 42-year-old single exercise cyclist from Oklahoma City.

Whether or not Carol was tuning in, who knows, but if he was (and it is a he), he might have opted for a cycle come half time if he shared Joe’s view that the game was “horrific” and “barely watchable”. It was a bit, too. All he could conclude – Joe, not Carol – was that “there’s no place any longer in the modern game for managers who love football,” suggesting that Jim McGuinness had “created a monster”. Colm half agreed, but, being from Meath, admitted to finding the “dourness” intriguing.

The second half wasn’t a great deal more entertaining, to be honest, Ger sighing as the hand pass count appeared in the top left corner of the screen. “Gaelic handball,” he said, almost drifting off.

Full-time, and the pale moon was rising over Croke Park and out of the speakers, that little Donegal fella left having to confront defeat for the first time in his little life, having just assumed his county brought home Sam whenever they visited the place.

Kieran Donaghy, meanwhile, said a big hello to one third of the panel when he chatted on the pitch with Joanne Cantwell. "Joe Brolly told us the production line was finished in Kerry – well Joe Brolly, what do you think of THAAAAAT?"

Emotive query

It was a fair enough question, the minor/senior double suggesting the Kerry transition is going reasonably well, gawd knows what they’ll do when it’s complete.

Joe reckoned it was the Tyrone in Donaghy that prompted his emotive query after beating the monster that is Donegal, so that was three counties he offended in one breath. Four if you include the many references to bottle-less Mayo chucking it all away in the semi finals.

No tingling on the panel, then, after the game that was in it, “there were times in the second half it was just awful stuff,” said Colm.

Although: “It was an absolutely absorbing game of bad football.”

True.