It started out with 33 contenders but almost four months and 64 games later the Bank of Ireland SFC is down to two with Kerry and Mayo set to contest the final in Croke Park on Sunday week, September 17th (3.30pm). It will be preceded at 1.30pm by the minor final between Kerry and Roscommon. The senior final will be a repeat of the 2004 decider which Kerry won by eight points. Mayo reached this year's final after a great comeback in the semi-final enabled them to beat Dublin by a point, 1-16 to 2-12. In a classic contest, Mayo started well but Dublin battled back to lead by seven points early in the second half before Mayo staged a magnificent recovery to edge home in a thrilling finish. Kerry saw off old rivals Cork by six points in the other semi-final. This will be only the fourth All-Ireland SF final between Kerry and Mayo. Their first clash was in 1932 when Kerry won by 2-7 to 2-4 and they repeated the success in 1997, winning by 0-13 to 1-7. Kerry also won the 2004 final by 1-20 to 2-9. They also beat Mayo (2-15 to 0-18) in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final. Mayo's last win over Kerry in the championship was in 1996 when they won by 2-13 to 1-10. Mayo will be bidding to win the title for the first time since 1951 and take their haul to four while Kerry are seeking their second title in three seasons and their 34th in all. Mayo have remained unbeaten in this year's campaign while Kerry lost to Cork in the Munster final replay before reviving their All-Ireland hopes via the qualifiers. They are aiming to become the third team to win the title, via the qualifier route. Galway achieved it in 2001 while Tyrone were successful last year. PATHS TO THE FINAL KERRY Kerry 0-16 Waterford 0-8 (Munster quarter-final) Kerry 0-17 Tipperary 1-5 (Munster semi-final) Kerry 0-10 Cork 0-10 (Munster final) Cork 1-12 Kerry 0-9 (Replay) Kerry 4-11 Longford 1-11 (Round 4 Qualifiers) Kerry 3-15 Armagh 1-13 (All-Ireland quarter-final) Kerry 0-16 Cork 0-10 (All-Ireland semi-final) Played 7, Won 5, Drew 1, Lost 1. Kerry scorers Bryan Sheehan 0-24 Colm Cooper 1-15 Eoin Brosnan 4-0 MF Russell 0-12 Declan O'Sullivan 0-8 Paul Galvin 0-8 Kieran Donaghy 1-4 Sean O'Sullivan 0-6 Darren O'Sullivan 1-2 Darragh O Se 0-3 Eamonn Fitzmaurice 0-3 Tomas O Se 0-3 Marc O Se 0-2 Paul O'Connor 0-1 Aidan O'Mahony 0-1 Seamus Moynihan 0-1 Tommy Griffin 0-1 MAYO Mayo 1-18 London 0-8 (Connacht quarter-final) Mayo 1-10 Leitrim 1-9 (Connacht semi-final) Mayo 0-12 Galway 1-8 (Connacht final) Mayo 0-15 Laois 0-15 (All-Ireland quarter-final) Mayo 0-14 Laois 0-11 (All-Ireland quarter-final) Mayo 1-16 Dublin 2-12 (All-Ireland semi-final) Played 6, Won 5, Drew 1, Lost 0. Mayo scorers Conor Mortimer 1-33 Alan Dillon 0-12 Ciaran McDonald 0-11 Ger Brady 1-5 Andy Moran 1-4 Aidan Kilcoyne 0-4 Kevin O'Neill 0-4 Billy Joe Padden 0-3 Pat Harte 0-2 Aidan Higgins 0-2 Peadar Gardiner 0-1 Barry Moran 0-1 David Heaney 0-1 Keith Higgins 0-1 Ronan McGarrity 0-1 LAST YEAR - ALL-IRELAND QUARTER-FINAL Kerry 2-15 Mayo 0-18 (All-Ireland quarter-final, Croke Park) The sides were level (Kerry 1-7 Mayo 0-10) early in the second half before Kerry opened up an eight point lead which was whittled back to three by a defiant Mayo finish. Kerry: Diarmuid Murphy, Marc O Se (0-1), Michael McCarthy, Tom O'Sullivan, Tomas O Se, Seamus Moynihan, Aidan O'Mahony (0-1), Darragh O Se (1-0), William Kirby (0-1), Liam Hassett (0-1), Declan O'Sullivan (0-1), Eoin Brosnan (0-2), Colm Cooper (1-1), Dara O Cinneide (0-1), Mike Frank Russell (0-3). Subs: Paul Galvin (0-3) for Hassett, Eamonn Fitzmaurice for O'Sullivan, Bryan Sheehan for O Cinneide, Kieran Donaghy for D O Se, Declan Quill for Russell. Mayo: David Clarke, David Heaney (0-1), Gary Ruane, James Nallen, Pat Kelly, Dermot Geraghty, Peadar Gardiner, Barry Moran (0-1), Shane Fitzmaurice, Michael Moyles, Alan Dillon (0-4), Ronan McGarrity, Billy Joe Padden, Ciaran McDonald (0-6), Austin O'Malley (0-5). Subs: Aidan Kilcoyne for Moyles, Keith Higgins for Gardiner, James Gill for Padden, Conor Mortimer for Kilcoyne, Andy Moran (0-1) for Barry Moran. THIS YEAR - NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (FEBRUARY 5) Mayo 1-15 Kerry 1-14 Mayo led by six points at one stage in the second half at Tralee but had defender Trevor Howley sent off with 15 minutes remaining and had to battle very hard as Kerry came at them in waves. Kerry drew level late on but Mayo snatched a vital point to take both League points. Mayo: F Ruddy, T Howley, D Heaney, K Higgins, P Kelly (0-1), J Nallen, P Gardiner, BJ Padden (1-2), J Gill (0-1), A Dillon (0-1), G Brady (0-4), A Moran (0-2), C Mortimer (0-3), A O'Malley, P Casey (0-1). Subs: B Moran for O'Malley, D Geraghty for Gardiner, L Brady for Casey. Kerry: K Cremin, P Reidy, M McCarthy, M O Se, A O'Mahony, E Fitzmaurice, M Lyons, D O Se, T O Se, K Donaghy, E Brosnan (0-2), P Kelly, Darren O'Sullivan (0-1), Declan O'Sullivan (1-2), MF Russell (0-6). Subs: C Cooper (0-2) for O'Mahony, P O'Connor (0-1) for Kelly, T O'Sullivan for Fitzmaurice, K O'Leary for Darren O'Sullivan. ALL-IRELAND SF WINS 33 - Kerry (1903-04-09-13-14-24-26-29-30-31-32-37-39-40-41-46-53-55-59-62-69-70-75-78-79-80-81-84-85-86-97-2000-2004) 3 - Mayo (1936-50-51) ALL-IRELAND FINAL DEFEATS KERRY 17 (1892-1905-15-23-27-38-44-47-60-64-65-68-72-76-82-2002-2005) MAYO 7 (1916-21-32-48-96-97-2004) PREVIOUS KERRY-MAYO CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES The All-Ireland final will be the 22nd championship clash between Mayo and Kerry with the score standing at 15-4 in the Kingdom's favour with two draws, 2005 - Kerry 2-15 Mayo 0-18 (All-Ireland quarter-final) 2004 - Kerry 1-20 Mayo 2-9 (All-Ireland final) 1997 - Kerry 0-13 Mayo 1-7 (All-Ireland final) 1996 - Mayo 2-13 Kerry 1-10 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1981 - Kerry 2-19 Mayo 1-6 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1969 - Kerry 0-14 Mayo 1-10 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1951 - Mayo 2-4 Kerry 1-5 (All-Ireland semi-final replay) 1951 - Mayo 1-5 Kerry 1-5 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1948 - Mayo 0-13 Kerry 0-3 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1939 - Kerry 3-8 Mayo 1-4 (All-Ireland semi-final replay) 1939 - Kerry 0-4 Mayo 0-4 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1936 - Mayo 1-5 Kerry 0-6 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1932 - Kerry 2-7 Mayo 2-4 (All-Ireland final) 1931 - Kerry 1-6 Mayo 1-4 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1930 - Kerry 1-9 Mayo 0-4 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1929 - Kerry 3-8 Mayo 1-1 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1924 - Kerry 1-4 Mayo 0-1 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1910 - Kerry 1-7 Mayo 0-4 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1909 - Kerry 2-12 Mayo 0-6 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1908 - Kerry 2-4 Mayo 0-1 (All-Ireland semi-final) 1903 - Kerry 2-7 Mayo 0-4 (All-Ireland semi-final) BANK OF IRELAND SFC 2006 Leinster May 14: 1st round: Meath 1-15 Louth 0-10; Offaly 0-15 Westmeath 0-11, Croke Park. May 21: 1st round: Carlow 4-9 Wicklow 0-12, Wexford Park. May 28: Quarter-finals: Wexford 1-19 Meath 1-13, Croke Park; Offaly 3-9 Kildare 0-15, Croke Park. June 4: Quarter-finals: Dublin 1-12 Longford 0-13, Pearse Park; Laois 1-17 Carlow 1-9, Portlaoise. June 25: Semi-final: Dublin 3-17 Laois 0-12, Croke Park. July 2: Semi-final: Offaly 2-15 Wexford 1-14, Croke Park. July 16: Final: Dublin 1-15 Offaly 0-9, Croke Park. Ulster May 7: Preliminary round: Down 1-13 Cavan 0-11, Casement Park. May 14: Quarter final: Armagh 0-10 Monaghan 0-10, Clones. May 20: Armagh 1-13 Monaghan 0-10, Clones (Replay) May 21: Quarter-final: Fermanagh 1-9 Antrim 0-9, Enniskillen. May 28: Quarter-final: Derry 1-8 Tyrone 0-5, Omagh. June 4: Quarter-final: Donegal 1-12 Down 1-11, Ballybofey. June 11 Semi-final: Armagh 0-11 Fermanagh 2-5, Clones. June 18: Semi-final: Donegal 1-13 Derry 0-11,Clones. June 25: Semi-final (replay): Armagh 0-16 Fermanagh 1-8, Clones. July 9: Final: Armagh 1-9 Donegal 0-9, Croke Park. Connacht May 14: Quarter-final: Roscommon 1-14 New York 0-9, Gaelic Park. May 27: Quarter-final: Galway 0-19 Sligo 1-12, Pearse Stadium May 28: Quarter-final: MAYO 1-18 London 0-8, Ruislip June 18 Semi-final: Galway 3-7 Roscommon 1-8, Dr. Hyde Park. June 25: Semi-final: MAYO 1-10 Leitrim 1-9, Carrick-on-Shannon. July 16: Final: MAYO 0-12 Galway 1-8, Castlebar. Munster May 21: Quarter-finals: KERRY 0-16 Waterford 0-8, Killarney; Limerick 2-5 Clare 0-8, Gaelic Grounds. June 11: Semi-finals: KERRY 0-17 Tipperary 1-5, Killarney; Cork 0-9 Limerick 0-5, Gaelic Grounds. July 9: Final: KERRY 0-10 Cork 0-10, Killarney. July 16: Replay: Cork 1-12 KERRY 0-9, Pairc Ui Chaoimh. All-Ireland Qualifiers Round 1 June 17 - Louth 2-16 Tyrone 2-16, Navan (after extra-time); Monaghan 2-19 Wicklow 3-6, Clones; Clare 1-13 Antrim 2-9, Casement Park; Sligo 1-7 Down 0-4, Markievicz Park; Longford 1-16 Waterford 1-9, Walsh Park. June 18: Meath 1-17 Carlow 0-12, Dr. Cullen Park; Westmeath 0-20 London 0-8 Cusack Park. June 24: Tyrone 1-12 Louth 1-7, Omagh; Kildare 1-18 Cavan 1-13, Newbridge. Round 2 July 1: Derry 1-17 Kildare 0-11, Celtic Park; Meath 1-19 Roscommon 0-9, Navan; Longford 1-23 Tipperary 1-10, Pearse Park; Westmeath 0-13 Limerick 1-9, Mullingar. July 8: Laois 0-9 Tyrone 0-6, Portlaoise; Clare 0-15 Fermanagh 0-10, Ennis; Wexford 0-8 Monaghan 0-6, Clones. July 9: Sligo 1-7 Sligo 0-9, Carrick-on-Shannon. Round 3 July 15 Westmeath 1-12 Sligo 0-14 (after extra-time), Markievicz Park; Laois 2-13 Meath 0-13, Navan; Longford 1-16 Derry 2-12, Pearse Park; Fermanagh 2-12 Wexford 0-11. Round 4 July 29: KERRY 4-11 Longford 1-11, Killarney; Westmeath 1-8 Galway 0-10, Pearse Stadium. July 30: Donegal 0-11 Fermanagh 0-8, Enniskillen; Laois 1-9 Offaly 0-4, Portlaoise. All-Ireland Championships August 5: All-Ireland quarter-finals: KERRY 3-15 Armagh 1-13, Croke Park; Cork 1-11 Donegal 1-10, Croke Park. August 12: All-Ireland quarter-final: Dublin 1-12 Westmeath 0-5, Croke Park. August 13: All-Ireland quarter-final: Laois 0-15 MAYO 0-15, Croke Park. August 20: All-Ireland quarter-final (replay): MAYO 0-14 Laois 0-11, Croke Park; All-Ireland semi-final: KERRY 0-16 Cork 0-10, Croke Park. Aug 27: All-Ireland semi-final: MAYO 1-16 Dublin 2-12, Croke Park. Sept 17: All-Ireland final: KERRY v MAYO, Croke Park (3.30). Tweet

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