TEAR up the script. The only certainty in modern day Gaelic football is its uncertainty. Any team anointed with favouritism to clasp the Sam Maguire chalice in 1996 has met with an untimely demise and, yesterday, it was Tyrone's turn to suffer such a fate.
Falling bodies and bloodied bandages will provide one image of Tyrone's death, as Croke Park acted as a graveyard to their All-Ireland dreams for the second time in 11 months.
But Meath won, rather than Tyrone losing, and the sheer power and guile of Sean Boylan's men in fashioning an unlikely 2-15 to 0-12 semi-final win, to set up a September 15th final showdown with Mayo, was, in its own way, rather heart-warming.
Football has almost suffocated tinder the weight of a fantasy hurling championship this summer. Yesterday, it was football's turn to fight back and a crowd of 59,742 were treated to a Meath display that bordered on fantasy itself.
The red and white banner on Hill 16 proclaimed: "Canavan. Probably the best forward in the world." Peter The Great and Tyrone had to contend with a new footballing god, however, and by the time referee Michael Curley put them out of their agony, the Meath supporters (outnumbered by their Ulster brethren by almost two-to-one, it seemed) were paying homage to Graham Geraghty, one of their own.
Geraghty, in fact, received the acclaim of the Meath supporters somewhat earlier than his colleagues: he was substituted with just a couple of minutes remaining, and walked off the pitch to a hug from Boylan and a deserved standing ovation from virtually everyone else.
It was Meath's day. It was Geraghty's day. It wasn't Tyrone's.
Meath outplayed, out manoeuvred, outfielded and outran them. Too often, Tyrone players were shoved aside. Too easily, white jerseys fell to the ground like skittles in a bowling complex. Brian Dooher and Ciaran McCabe wore bloodied bandages around their temples. And, at times, the Tyrone physio appeared to be closer to the action than any player.
Six bookings - four Meathmen and two Tyrone players, one of them ironically Peter Canavan after he ran some 30 yards to inform the referee that one of his umpires required him provide evidence of the tough nature of the fare.
The football was sometimes exhilarating, sometimes untidy. Tyrone, after a bright enough start, faded alarmingly and an ankle injury to Canavan, sustained when he put them three points ahead just 10 minutes into the game, coincided with their slide.
With Canavan in obvious distress, Ger Cavlan manfully attempted to fill the void but, in too many areas, Tyrone were suffering an horrendous offday. In contrast, Meath's young lieutenants came of age.
"I was particularly pleased for the young lads," said Meath manager Boylan. "They have worked really hard all year. In fairness, I have driven them hard - but they have responded superbly."
Barry Callaghan, Paddy Reynolds, Darren Fay and Mark O'Reilly have come of age in the summer of 1996, but for Boylan - in his 14th year as Meath manager, the longest in the country - another All-Ireland final date next month provides further vindication, if any were needed, for his footballing philosophy.
It was perhaps fitting that Geraghty's goal in the 28th minute - to give Meath the lead for the first time - confirmed the men from the Royal County meant business.
Even when the Canavan brothers, Pascal and Peter, responded with two points to restore Tyrone's lead, it was Geraghty who again floated over a point to equalise. When the teams went in at half-time on level terms, one suspected the pendulum had swung Meath's way. And so it had.
Yes, it was Meath's day. More Croke Park anguish for Tyrone. More soul searching.
