Mayo end below-par Kerry's long-standing home record

Kerry's 39-match unbeaten home championship run came to end as Mayo defeated the All-Ireland champions with five points to spare in this Group 1 Round 1 All-Ireland SFC round-robin tie in Killarney.

In front of 23,128 at a sun-drenched Fitzgerald Stadium, Mayo were much stronger then their Kerry counterparts and first to the ball, and got their all-decisive goal ten minutes from time when substitute Eoghan McLaughlin, who was only on the field four minutes, raised the game’s only green flag.

The result sees Kerry lose the longest held unbeaten home Championship record in the history of the GAA.

Mayo made five changes to their Connacht championship quarter-final defeat to Roscommon six weeks ago, while Kerry remained unchanged from their 14-point defeat of Clare in the Munster final two weeks ago.

It had been 41 days since that defeat to the Rossies, but Kevin McStay’s side showed no sign of rustiness and were quickest out of the traps. Mayo could have, and should have, taken the lead inside two minutes, but Kerry 'keeper Shane Ryan superbly saved a Diarmuid O’Connor shot on goal.

Three minutes later, James Carr was denied a certain goal after linking up well with Matthew Ruane, but again Ryan excellently saved from point-blank range to keep Mayo at bay.

Ruane did well to ease through the Kerry defence after collecting the ball from Jordan Flynn, seconds after Seán O'Shea was turned over in the middle of the field.

Points from play from the impressive Ryan O’Donoghue and Aidan O’Shea gave Mayo a well-deserved lead inside seven minutes.

Paul Geaney kicked over Kerry’s first point of the afternoon in the ninth minute after a quick-thinking Graham O’Sullivan split the Mayo defence with a lovely through ball from a fast free.

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