A first half goalfest, with the sides hitting three each, set the game up perfectly for a cracking second period, but the Connacht men failed to sustain their challenge and succumbed tamely to a rampant Kingdom side.

Kerry ripped through the Mayo defence at will, their running and support game creating a succession of scoring chances.

They struck for two goals in the space of a minute, first Declan O’Sullivan playing a one-two with Kieran Donaghy to net, before Donaghy himself rose high to filed, turn and drill high to the net.

By the 13th minute the Kingdom led by a spirit-crushing 2-4 to 0-0, and the Connacht champions looked dead on their feet.

Their first score, however, was a Kevin O’Neill goal in the 16th minute, made possible by an Aidan Higgins pass, but Kerry hit back with a third goal 10 minutes later when Colm Cooper squeezed the ball in from a tight angle after goalkeeper David Clarke had pushed his initial effort on to a post.

Seamus Moynihan’s fisted point left a massive 12 points between the sides, but in a quite remarkable finish to the half, the westerners plundered two goals.

O’Neill created the opening for midfielder Pat Harte to blast home, then O’Neill grabbed his second after Ciaran McDonald’s shot had come back off a post.

Kerry led at half-time on a remarkable scoreline of 3-8 to 3-2, and stretched the advantage after the break with points from Cooper (two points) and substitute Eoin Brosnan.

The three attacking stars upon so much depended – Ciaran McDonald, Conor Mortimer and Alan Dillon – failed to spark for Mayo, whose challenge died in most disappointing fashion.

The second half was disrupted by a series of scuffles, but it was Kerry who kept their focus, reeling off further scores through Aidan O’Mahony, Bryan Sheenan, Declan O’Sullivan, Cooper and Donaghy.

Brosnan then clipped home their fourth goal in stoppage time, rubbing salt in Mayo wounds.