And so a scintillating All-Ireland final has drawn to a close, and Dublin and Mayo are set to trade blows again on October 1st thanks to the trusty right peg of Cillian O'Connor.
And the game looked set to be a cracker even before the throw-in as both sets of players became re-acquainted with each other upon entering the field of play.
At least, that's how it appeared to those of us watching on TV.
It turns out, however, that the fracas we saw spill onto the pitch might have originated in the tunnel with a Western-style ambush staged by Mayo in an effort to put Dublin off their game.
John Casey of Midwest Radio relayed the fact that Mayo were waiting in the tunnel for about six minutes to greet their opponents, as well as the fact that he was absolutely terrified by the whole affair.
As it turns out, Dublin were late emerging for their warm-up. They were due to emerge from the dressing rooms at 2.56pm, only to arrive onto the pitch at 3.02pm, something which may earn them a GAA fine. But as the commentary relays, Mayo were prepared to wait for them.
