It was an afternoon of pure drama in Croke Park, but it's fair to say that the vast majority of the talking points would arrive in the first match of the day.
Whereas Galway vs Armagh was packed with incidents right from the first whistle, Kerry vs Mayo was a rather more pedestrian affair.
While it was a close game prior to the last 20 minutes or so, it wasn't exactly a pulsating contest. Both teams were a bit slow on the ball as they lacked any sort of pace in their play. The only moment of real quality in the opening half came via a brilliant goal from David Clifford.
This David Clifford special is the difference between Kerry and Mayo at the interval 🔥pic.twitter.com/MZmqSazIAr
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) June 26, 2022
There was a period after the interval where Mayo looked like they were about to take control of the game, but their wastefulness in front of goal meant they failed to capitalise when they were the better team.
In the end, they went 20 minutes without a score in the second half as Kerry emerged as 1-18 to 0-13 winners.
Pat Spillane not impressed with Kerry during Mayo win
They may have got the job done, but it wasn't exactly an eye-catching performance from the Munster champions.
Speaking on The Sunday Game, Pat Spillane said that this was as poor as he could remember Kerry playing in Croke Park.
Kerry won today playing as poor as I've ever seen Kerry play in Croke Park in the championship. They were very, very poor today.
Three forwards didn't score, Sean O'Shea wasn't his normal self, Stephen O'Brien was only okay, Dara Moynihan anonymous, Paudie Clifford was completely cancelled out.
At the end of the day it's about winning and they won playing badly. They won because their efficiency up front and shooting was much better than Mayo's.
You look at Mayo and that second half and you'll see wides, that final kick into the full forward line was poor. Their play into the final third, game management, and composure (were all poor).
The positives for Kerry are that they're in the semi-final and won playing poorly. Their defence let in no goal, that's 14 match including the McGrath Cup with one goal conceded.
Some positives, but this was the sort of game they needed. They have two weeks to prepare for the Dublin game and a lot of things to work on.
Kerry will now prepare for an All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin, where they know that they will need to perform much better if they are to advance to the decider.
They will need a lot more impetus in their play on that occasion if they are to get the job done.
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