The thrill is back. For several minutes after Saturday's under-21 victory John O'Mahony stayed in the Galway dressing-room, savouring the immediate aftermath of beating Kerry. A couple of loud cheers were raised and O'Mahony emerged to tell his tale.
Maybe we needed that a little bit more than Kerry," he said. "Having lost with the seniors, you appreciate any crumbs from the table. But these are a great bunch of lads, and when Kerry came back at us they showed character. And maybe we got the breaks that we didn't get earlier in the year in the other grade."
O'Mahony had organised a comprehensive victory - far more than the five-point margin in Ennis suggested. On the weekend that he'd also committed to the Galway management for a further three years, he'd taken the under-21 side back to the All-Ireland final for the first time in 10 years.
"We know it's going to be a hugely difficult title to win, but you always have the chance if you're going to the final. Dublin have a strong senior presence like ourselves. But for now we'll just savour this victory."
It was a game that produced periods of football O'Mahony will long remember. For the opening 20 minutes Galway controlled practically every ball, and within five minutes their three full forwards scored from play - Nicholas Joyce, then Michael Meehan, then Derry O'Brien.
There was also the huge influence of Matthew Clancy at centre forward, with O'Brien dropping back alongside him, so Meehan and Joyce became the two target men up front. The strategy worked wonders, and with Joe Bergin lording midfield - and Kieran Comer not far behind - the scores kept coming. After 20 minutes Galway were up 0-9 to nothing.
Kerry's big threat, Colm Cooper, wasn't seeing any ball. Michael Comer had dropped back to mark him and did everything necessary, as did Kevin Brady at wing back, so out the field Kerry required a major injection of life. Tadhg Kennelly, back home just three days after his Australian Rules season with the Sydney Swans, provided just that.
Kennelly immediately became the dominating presence at midfield. He won the free that ended with Cooper flicking the ball over his head and into the net. He made the run that brought another magical intervention from Cooper, and ended with the ball punched into the net by Declan O'Sullivan. Declan Quill and Cooper surrounded those goals with points, and Kerry had scored an unanswered 2-2 in five minutes.
Bergin got a valuable point just before the break, but trailing by two and with the breeze in their favour, Kerry seemed to have more to play for in the second half.
Instead they played out the second half with two severe handicaps: after five minutes Kennelly took a knock on the hip after an accidental collision with Bergin, and was never the same again. Then after 12 minutes centre back James Cahillane got a straight red for an off-the-ball dig at Clancy.
"Kennelly brought great life to the game, in fairness to him," said Kerry manager Jack O'Connor. "We got back into it, but it required a lot. Then we lost the man, they put the man back, and that was about it."
GALWAY: D Morris; C Monaghan, K Fitzgerald, R Murray; K Brady, D Blake, M Comer; J Bergin (0-3), K Comer (0-2, one free); D Burke, M Clancy (0-2), D Hanley; M Meehan (0-5, one free), D O'Brien (0-2), N Joyce (0-1). Subs: J Devane (0-2) for Hanley (half-time), C Bane for Burke (46 mins), R O'Hara for O'Brien (56 mins).
KERRY: D Hennebry; G Walsh, D Donegan, S Curran; B Guiney, J Cahillane, E Kavanagh; S Scanlon, M Finn; D Quill (0-2, two frees), D O'Sullivan (1-0), P Kelly; C Cooper (1-1), R O'Connor (0-2, one free), DJ Fleming. Subs: T Kennelly for Finn (23 mins), J O'Connor (0-1) for Fleming (45 mins), P Galvin for Kelly (55 mins), B Dennehy for Donegan (57 mins), D Long for Quill (59 mins).
Referee: E Murtagh (Longford).
