Mayo 1-11 Kerry 0-11: If only it had been this simple last September. The shrill shock of that All-Ireland defeat may still be ringing around the heads of many Mayo folk, but in the icy sunlight of Castlebar yesterday, they were at least reminded that there is no voodoo in those green and gold hoops.
Kerry, the champions, can be beaten, at least when it comes to the matter of two early league points. It was an encouraging league beginning to the John O'Mahony era and, afterwards, the Ballaghdereen man stood in the draughty corridors of McHale Park clutching a clipboard and reminding everybody that it was precisely that. A beginning.
"I didn't reveal my thoughts publicly, but I felt that given the momentum of both teams right now, we had a chance today. I felt we were a little tentative in the first half and didn't develop our game as much as we would have liked.
"But our team showed great stomach in the second half and, with all due respect to Kerry, it was always going to be hard for them given where they have come from."
This was the embodiment of league football, with signs of what might materialise when these teams soar again - but only signs. From the terraces, we could see the breaths of the players as they laboured and quite a few of the boys of summer looked noticeably chunkier than they will do come the dead heat of July and August.
Mistakes were made on both sides and, while the McHale Park audience is not famed for its forgiveness, Mayo were heartily supported on their way to this workmanlike victory.
Given the success and stature of this particular Kerry team, it seemed a shame they were not represented by a more handsome travelling support, regardless of the distance.
It was probably the toughest opening fixture imaginable for new Kingdom coach Pat O'Shea.
He has to deal with the messy circumstances of coming fresh into the set-up of defending All-Ireland champions. It is common for All-Ireland championship winning teams to look almost surprised to find themselves back on the field of play - to them, that final probably seems like mere weeks ago - and it will take them time to adapt.
They were applauded on to the field by the very Mayo players they demoralised five months ago in Croke Park and suddenly realised that they have to do it all over again.
"We are learning all the time," O'Shea observed afterwards. "We knew it was going to be a hard year and it hasn't got any easier after today. That's life. Mayo had to come here today and get a win. They had a lot of demons they wanted to exorcise so we knew it was going to be hard.
"It makes it a bit difficult for us for the rest of the league. But there are different priorities for every team this year."
The big talking point - in every sense - was the inclusion of Michael Quirke at full forward. Another graduate from the Tralee basketball stable, the hefty front man did not score, but showed touch and presence enough to fill the imagination with the kind of havoc he might cause once the Kerry forward machine is in full motion.
Yesterday, it was not.
The Kerry half-forward line made little impact and, although Colm Cooper was the only starting forward to score from play, never once did the Mayo defence become isolated in the one-on-one situations that haunted them in their previous championship meetings.
Kerry relied on the sweet free-taking of Bryan Sheehan to keep in touch and were helped by a monster point from Kieran Donaghy in the first half, but, overall, the menacing flow and accuracy of the Kingdom attacking game was not in evidence.
But that was partly because the Mayo defence worked demonically. A late injury to listed midfielder Ronan McGarritty saw a promotion for James Kilcullen and the Ballaghdereen man, who had impressed at full back throughout the Connacht League, was sent straight in to shadow Quirke.
He broke everything in a commanding hour and his 60th-minute block was the point of origin for Pat Harte's thumping goal, a swift, clever move featuring Kevin O'Neill and a deadly pass from Andy Moran.
Kilcullen's poise was assuring and ahead of him, Billy Joe Padden had a sparkling hour at centre back. Although a seasoned member of the Mayo squad now, Padden has maybe suffered because of his own versatility and, while keeping tabs on the dangerous Eoin Brosnan, the Belmullet man was authoritative as defensive anchor and calm in his distribution.
Indeed, the Mayo half-back line shone, with veteran David Heaney fitting in comfortably at left half and Peader Gardiner absolutely irrepressible on the other wing, breaking forward to score three fine points.
Elsewhere, things were mixed.
David Brady was, as always, a huge presence and enjoyed an engaging tussle with Darragh Ó Sé. Up front, not much went right for Mayo, but the return of Trevor Mortimer was promising and Austin O'Malley won plenty of ball.
Kerry were handed another heart-and-soul display from the remarkable Darragh Ó Sé and the defensive six looked formidable even without McCarthy and Moynihan. Killian Young was stripped of possession for one Mayo point, but, overall, the Renard man performed well and Brendan Quiney also looked comfortable alongside O'Mahony.
Given that referee Maurice Deegan was obviously under orders to flash the yellow card with impunity, the match was never going to be pretty. Kerry were unfortunate the roulette of some 15 bookings stopped with them, Donaghy unlucky to find himself walking with a second caution on 49 minutes.
Mayo had worked themselves into a 0-10 to 0-5 lead by then, with Alan Dillon combining his usual cocktail of industry and opportunism to land three fine second-half points. Kerry worked hard to recover, with Declan Quill finding his range twice, but Mayo never looked likely to let this match slip and Harte's jubilant goal sealed the day.
It was a small measure of atonement for last September and means that Mayo and O'Mahony can truly get the show on the road and forget the past - if that is ever possible in Mayo.
MAYO: D Clarke; L O'Malley, J Kilcullen, K Higgins; D Heaney, PJ Padden, P Gardiner (0-3); D Brady, P Harte (1-0); A Moran, T Mortimer (0-1), A Dillon (0-4); C Mortimer (0-1, free), A O'Malley (0-1), K O'Neill (0-1). Subs: M Conroy for A O'Malley (42 mins); D O'Sullivan for M Quirke (44); G Brady for M Conroy (61); A Kilcoyne for A Dillon (63); J Nallen for D Heaney (71).
KERRY: D Murphy; M Ó Sé, T O'Sullivan, K Young; T Ó Sé, A O' Mahony, B Guiney; D Ó Sé, K Donaghy (0-1); S O'Sullivan, E Brosnan, P Kelly; C Cooper (0-3, one free), M Quirke, B Sheehan (0-5 frees). Subs: D Walsh for P Kelly (26 mins); D Quill (0-2) for S O'Sullivan (49).
Referee: M Deegan (Laois).
