All-Ireland MFC/Kerry 0-14 Mayo 1-12: Kerry missed a penalty yesterday, kicked 10 wides and played an over-elaborate brand of football for most of this minor All-Ireland semi-final. They have only themselves to blame for the end result.
Mayo? They did everything asked of them: kicked two wides all afternoon and rode their luck with a fortunate own goal from Kerry corner back Shane Enright.
Their cavalier approach gives them a chance to end a 20-year drought on September 25th against Down, a match that will be the first ever All-Ireland minor final without a provincial champion.
"My teacher Mick Burke was the last man to manage a minor team to victory in 1985 and I hope to take that off him," said Mayo manager Eugene Ivers. "He has been telling me all year he doesn't want to be the last manager to bring a minor title back to Mayo."
Considering they have accounted for Armagh and Kerry since losing the Connacht final to Galway by a single point, Mayo go into the final as serious contenders. But they can also be certain their next opposition will not disappear for long periods.
Until the panic-stricken final few moments, all Kerry did was tread water. On reflecting on this flat performance, it will be the goal that hurts them most.
It came on 25 minutes, just after Thomas Garvey had given Kerry a two-point cushion. Dermot O'Connor threaded a ball through for Aidan Campbell, whose shot was redirected into the net by the sliding Enright.
Kerry drew level moments later with a clever point from Kieran O'Leary but that was to be their last time on level terms.
The next pivotal moment came five minutes into the second half as O'Leary spun away from Dara Conway only to be foot-blocked by the covering Paraic Healy.
From the resulting penalty, Paul O'Connor saw his shot saved by the legs of Mayo goalkeeper Shane Nallen.
The Mayo midfield duo took over thereafter, with Peter Collins and Pierce Hanley eclipsing the big reputations of Kerry duo Kieran Brennan and Alan O'Sullivan, but it was a rampaging point from centre back Tom Cunniff that should have raised the alarm in the Kerry ranks.
It didn't and Mayo pulled away. Their free -taker Paraic O'Connor added his first score from play before Séamus O'Shea, whose parents hail from Kerry, and Gerard O'Boyle made it 1-12 to 0-9. Kerry looked dead.
Then Brennan began to regain parity in midfield and replacement David Murphy kicked three points. Paul O'Connor and Paddy Curran brought it back to the minimum margin. One minute of added time remained and Mayo players started dropping with the common curse of cramp.
Kerry came one more time. But the hero of the hour was Nallen as he made a quality one-handed save from O'Leary at point-blank range. O'Connor was well wide from the 45 and Kerry went home with nothing but pride and regrets.
MAYO: S Nallen; P Healy, G Cafferkey, D Conway; C Barrett (0-1), T Cunniff (0-1), D Hughes; P Collins (0-1), P Hanley (0-1); A Campbell (1-1), D O'Connor, D Kilcullen; R O'Boyle (0-1), P O'Connor (0-4, 3f), G O'Boyle (0-1). Subs: S Kelly for A Campbell (30-32 mins, temp), S O'Shea (0-1) for D Conway (39 mins), J Noone for D O'Connor (59 mins).
KERRY: G Kissane; C O'Mahony, K Young, S Enright; G Duffy, M Moloney, S Lynch; K Brennan, A O'Sullivan; J Falvey, M O'Donoghue, T Garvey (0-2, 1f); P Curran (0-1), P O'Connor (0-5, 1f), K O'Leary (0-3). Subs: A O'Sullivan for S Lynch (34 mins), B Looney for T Garvey (42 mins), E Mac Gearailt for A O'Sullivan (45 mins), D Murphy (0-3) for J Falvey (47 mins), M Boyle for M O'Donoghue (53 mins).
Referee: D Fahy (Longford).
