David Clifford’s goalKerry's David Clifford shoots past Mayo goalkeeper Jack Livingston. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho Oddly enough, this was Clifford’s first ever goal in an All-Ireland final. It was a beauty too, as he laid off a pass for Seán O’Shea under the Hogan Stand, turned for the end line and slowed just enough to flatfoot Donnacha McHugh before bursting on to O’Shea’s gorgeous fist pass. He rounded Jack Livingstone and slotted home with consummate Cliffordian ease.When O’Shea followed up with his second point of the day immediately afterwards, Kerry were 1-5 to 0-1 ahead and there was just a quarter of an hour gone. Kerry had made the perfect start – efficient, ruthless, Kerryish. Mayo had tried for four two-pointers at this stage and missed them all. It felt for all the world like the tone for the day had been set. If anyone was predicting a Mayo win at this stage, they were keeping it to themselves.Ryan O’Donoghue’s first pointed freeMayo's Ryan O'Donoghue celebrates winning a free. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Mayo were back in it by this stage, with a couple of two-pointers from Jack Carney and Ryan O’Donoghue settling them. But this felt like the key scored of the first half, purely because of how it came about. Mayo’s big idea in this final was the high press – they gave Shane Murphy nothing around midfield and instead forced him to go short to Dylan Casey and Paul Murphy with his kick-outs. And for the first 20 minutes, they got no real joy off it – their tackling was a bit too forceful and Martin McNally pulled them for three frees that took the pressure off the Kerry defence.But this time it worked. O’Donoghue bottled Casey up just inside the 40m arc and when the Kerry defender had nowhere to go, McNally did him for overcarrying. When he held on to the ball, the free got moved up and the Mayo crowd went balubas. It felt like the first time they could see a road to victory.Kobe McDonald’s 45Mayo's Kobe McDonald celebrates during the game against Kerry. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Kerry left Mayo waiting after half-time but it was the underdogs who made the faster start. They hadn’t taken a single attempt at kicking a one-pointer in the whole of the first half but now Darragh Beirne rectified that, pulling off a couple of his dummy solos to slip inside the cover and split the posts. From the kick-out, Kobe McDonald had a half-sniff for a goal but it got blocked out for a 45.The young prince hadn’t really been able to force himself into the game but now he had his moment. He strolled back out to the 45 and set the ball down. It was a pressure kick – the youngest player on the field trusted with a crucial chance. A few steps back, a look at the posts and he drilled it. It was the first time Mayo took the lead. They never gave it up. Darragh Beirne’s goalOr maybe we should call it Ryan O’Donoghue’s goal? When the Mayo talisman picked up the ball around his own 65, you can be fairly sure that nobody on earth was thinking a Mayo goal was in the offing except possibly him. He ducked around two tackles, wriggling into midfield where all of a sudden and out of nowhere, they had an overlap.In fact, make that several overlaps. They were pouring forward now, like the 12th Infantry raining down from the hills. O’Donoghue streaked down towards the Canal End and picked out David McBrien, who helped the ball on to Beirne on the edge of the large square. The young corner forward showed an icy calm to steer his finish past Shane Murphy. Mayo were kicking for home.Ryan O’Donoghue’s two-pointerThe Clifford brothers had done their damnedest to get Kerry back into the game, cutting the lead to just one with 13 minutes to go. Mayo’s lead felt delicate – they were kicking too many wides and dropping too many balls short for any of their supporters to feel confident. They were clearly the better team but weren’t making it count on the scoreboard.O’Donoghue put and end to all that. Jordan Flynn and Kobe had turned the tide back Mayo’s way with smart back-to-back scores. But Mayo’s energy comes from big moments and it was fitting that O’Donoghue was the one who delivered it, taking it on from outside the arc and pushing Mayo into a five-point lead with eight minutes to go.They had a couple of wobbles between there and the end but Sam Maguire was theirs.