Mayo are All-Ireland champions again at last after coming from seven points down to beat Kerry by 1-20 to 1-17 in a historic encounter at Croke Park.

Holders Kerry were aiming for back-to-back titles and their 40th overall, while Mayo were hoping to end a cruel 75-year wait for Sam Maguire Cup glory, the westerners having lost their previous eleven All-Ireland finals, including ten inside the last 30 years.

In Andy Moran’s first year at the helm of his county, Mayo’s full-forward line of Ryan O’Donoghue, Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne - with 1-11 between them - was immense, but there were heroes all over the field for the western warriors, who were full value for this never-to-be-forgotten victory.

Mayo played with insatiable hunger and their courageous conviction was epitomised by O'Donoghue and Jack Carney's two-point shooting, each man nailing a precious brace from outside the arc. It looked like Kerry might run away with it when David Clifford’s 15th-minute goal followed quickly by a Seanie O’Shea point propelled them into a seven-point lead, 1-5 to 0-1.

However, fearless, high-pressing Mayo gradually gained a foothold to draw level – with Jack Carney and Man of the March contender Ryan O’Donoghue delivering superb two-pointers – by the 33rd minute, only for Joe O’Connor to give the defending champions a narrow 1-8 to 0-10 half-time lead.

Tom O’Sullivan replaced the injured Diarmuid O’Connor in Kerry’s starting line-up, while O’Connor’s namesake came into the Mayo team in place of the injured Stephen Coen. In a tactical tweak to their XV, the underdogs also brought Paul Towey into their half-forward line for Conor Loftus.

The winners won the toss and opted to play against the slight breeze into the Hill 16 goals in the first half, but Kerry struck first through corner back Dylan Casey, who pointed with aplomb off his left boot 90 seconds in following a neat interchange with Paudie Clifford.

Sean O’Brien spun to drill a goal effort wide and David Clifford’s first possession ended in a fifth-minute point after pirouetting to shoot with the left, the No.14 fisting his second within 60 seconds. Centre back David McBrien nonchalantly fisted Mayo’s first point on seven minutes but, having grown into the game, Andy Moran’s men missed four two-pointer attempts inside the first twelve minutes. They would continue to back themselves.

Seanie O’Shea swung over the fourth Kerry point, with Paudie Clifford again prominent, younger brother David becoming Kerry’s all-time leading championship scorer on 15 minutes when gathering a fist-pass from O’Shea and stepping around the advancing Jack Livingstone to hammer to the net, followed instantly by a second O’Shea point: 1-5 to 0-1.

Jack Carney’s brilliant two-pointer handed Mayo a lifeline halfway through the first half and Ryan O’Donoghue followed suit after O’Shea improvised to fist one over at the other end.

Four adrift, Mayo introduced Tommy Conroy, and quickly halved their deficit with pointed frees from Beirne and O’Donoghue, the ferocious and relentless high press proving damagingly disruptive and causing the champions’ defence all manner of difficulties.

Off-balance, Sam Callinan did well to register his team’s fifth successive point after Kobe McDonald’s pass, Tom O’Sullivan with an instant riposte on the stroke of 30 minutes. Beirne’s free and a thumping Conroy effort had the sides level for the first time with two minutes left in the first half: 1-7 to 0-10.

Joe O’Connor’s 35th-minute point crept inches inside the left upright to give the Munster champions the slenderest of interval advantages. From here, history-makers Mayo took over…

Beirne got away with a double hop to equalise within 30 seconds of the restart and McDonald contemptuously smashed over a ‘45’ (won by himself) on 37 minutes as Mayo hit the front for the first time – a lead they would not relinquish. The gap was four when Beirne belied his years and fired a bullet to the top right corner of the Kerry net in the 40th minute after a searing O’Donoghue run and a clever first-time flick into his path from McBrien: 1-12 to 1-8 and an eleven-point swing from one goal to the next!

Half-time substitute Keith Evans pulled one back but Mayo fans were out of their seats again in the 45th minute when Carney arrowed over his second two-pointer of the final to give his team a five-point cushion with less than 25 minutes remaining. Paudie Clifford’s ‘45’ and point from play bookended five minutes of Mayo territorial dominance. The game was now being played on Mayo’s terms but misses from the omnipresent McDonald – now operating at midfield - and O’Donoghue meant their lead was just three…

David Clifford pivoted and lashed over after collecting from Paudie – two between the teams heading into the fourth and final quarter. Graham O’Sullivan cut inside to point off his left – another Paudie Clifford assist – and Shane Murphy’s brilliant diving save diverted McDonald’s powerful close-range goalbound shot over the crossbar for a 15th Mayo point.

David Clifford brought his tally for the day to 1-4 with a fisted point 14 minutes from the end but Jordan Flynn punctuated a patient Mayo move with the point that made it 1-16 to 1-14. Teenage terror Kobe made it a three-point game again, with the retreating O’Donoghue pulling the strings and the swarming men in white lording second-half possession.

Eight minutes from the end, O’Donoghue whipped over a stunning two-pointer, slicing across the ball majestically, Mayo five points clear and completely on top. As time seemed to stand still, Flynn palmed a dropping ball onto the Kerry crossbar from close range, the outstanding Donnacha McHugh getting to the ball quickest ahead of David Clifford under Hill 16.

Clifford made it a three-point affair with an inspirational 65th-minute two-pointer off his right foot, Paudie splitting the posts 60 seconds later: 1-17 to 1-19. Two minutes from time, David Clifford’s effort at a two-pointer equaliser drifted agonisingly wide.

Conroy clipped over the last score seconds from the end as Mayo were crowned All-Ireland senior football champions for the fourth time, corner back Jack Coyne the man with the pleasure of lifting the much-coveted most famous Cup in Irish sport amid unbelievable scenes in Dublin 3 after a wait of three-quarters of a century was ended in spectacular swagger.

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