Who knows what thoughts drifted through the Dromid man’s head but it wouldn’t be too wide off the mark to suggest that he was comparing this year’s final to the 2006 decider.

Think back 12 months to the replay defeat on the banks of the Lee, and the torrent of boos that were aimed in O’Sullivan’s direction. It was a tough time for the young forward who became the county’s fall guy.

One year later, he exorcised those memories with a stunning performance that saw him notch up 0-3, and when he was substituted this time, it was a chorus of cheers that rang in his ears as he left the field. The wheel had come full circle.

O’Sullivan’s story alone tells you all you need to know about Sunday’s final. It was a day of redemption for Kerry football as well as the players and supporters.

For whatever reasons, Kerry’s footballers were not at the races last year. This year, they were, and they were hell bent on making up for the disappointment of last year. Mission accomplished.

This was an epic Munster final between the age-old foes, not to mention an historic first meeting between the All-Ireland champions and Munster kingpins in a provincial decider. The game had it all.

The pendulum swung one way, it swung the other as the green and gold and the Rebel red held court in Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, and over 31,000 supporters watched in awe as a wannabe classic unfolded.

Kerry started well, Cork thundered back into the game, the home side came again only for Billy Morgan’s men to stage another comeback but the All-Ireland champions made the last, and most decisive move, just minutes from the end and added the Munster title to their trophy haul.

Kieran Donaghy and substitute, Sean O’Sullivan, may have kicked the winning scores late on but this was the quintessential team showing. Killian Young was outstanding, Michéal Quirke impressed, Darragh ” Sé caught some great balls, Cooper worked tire-lessly, Russell swung over free after free, and so on. But to hand pick these players would be unfair on the rest because this was a united Kerry front, a real team effort from Pat O’Shea’s men.

For O’Shea, it was a proud moment. It was for games like this that he took the Kerry job and his infectious smile after the game told you all you need to know about how the Killarney man felt. His arrival in the big time has now been rubber-stamped.

To find the game’s turning point is relatively straightforward. With just moments left, Derek Kavanagh found himself just yards from the Kerry goal but just as he was about to unleash what could have been the match-winning score, Tom·s ” Sé got to grips with his jersey.

It put Kavanagh off. He missed. Donaghy scored. The rest is history.

If the game reached a thrilling crescendo, you could say it endured an offkey start with eight wides in the first 10 minutes - Cork guilty of five, Kerry adding three.

Three minutes passed, as well as a wide apiece, before Mike Frank Russell landed the game’s opening score, guiding home a right-foot free after Cooper was upended. But then the wides flowed freely.

The game was nine minutes old before the large travelling support from across the county bounds raised their first cheer thanks to a James Masters free. It’s a testament to the marking job of Marc ” Sé that Masters had little say on the game, finished with just 0-4. He kicked 3-14 in his previous two games.

Kerry were doing well around the middle at this stage and two points from skipper, Declan O’Sullivan, in a three minute spell saw the home side in control, 0-3 to 0-1.

But, in the same time it took the man from Dromid to kick those two scores, Cork responded with three points in a similar period as Masters (0-2) and Kevin McMahon pushed Billy’s boys 0-4 to 0-3 ahead after 19 minutes. The game was slowly reaching boiling point.

Russell levelled the game for the second time with a free after Killian Young was fouled but Cork struck for three points on the bounce once more to take the biggest lead of the game to date. A Donnacha O’Connor free was followed up by two Michael Cussen points in the space of 40 seconds. The Cork support were delirious while the home support was muted - not for long though.

At 0-7 to 0-4, Kerry needed a score and it was Russell who came up trumps, slotting over a beauty from the stand side after good work by Cooper and Donaghy. The gap was soon just one point when Donaghy struck over after coming deep for the ball, showing he is far more than just a target man.

One point behind, having played against the wind and with half time imminent, life didn’t seem too bad. How silly we were to presume this as Kerry offered up two cheap points just before the break to make their task that much harder.

First, a quick free saw Nicholas Murphy tap over, unmarked, and a pointed free from O’Connor soon followed. From looking good, the mood on the terrace soon echoed the sullen clouds but an Eoin Brosnan effort right at the death of the half raised one last cheer.

Kerry trailed 0-9 to 0-7 but this game was just getting started as the second period proved.

Flying out of the blocks, Kerry rattled off 1-5 without reply to stun the Rebels. By the 15th minute, Russell (0-2 frees), Cooper (0-2) and Declan O’Sullivan - could have been a goal - had all raised the white flag but it was a magical moment after seven minutes of the half that saw the Kingdom rejoice.

A Cork mistake saw Killian Young loft in a high ball as he hugged the terrace sideline. Donaghy jumped, got a fleeting touch of the ball as it fell to Cooper, and the Killarney man, in his hometown, swivelled in the square and planted the ball in the back of the net. Guess who’s back? Cooper’s back!

At this stage, with 20 minutes left and Kerry leading 1-12 to 0-9, the game looked over. Again, we shouldn’t have presumed.

Hitting 1-3 in eight minutes, Cork thundered back into the game, drawing level after 24 minutes. Two Donnacha O’Connor frees and a Pearse O’Neill point sandwiched a terrific Cork goal that saw O’Connor score an absolute cracker past Diarmuid Murphy. A great move, an even better goal.

Now we had a game on our hands.

Yet another superb Rusell free edged Kerry ahead, 1-13 to 1-12, but a Masters left foot free dragged his side level, again. The game had a replay written all over it.

Then came two defining moments with just minutes left.

First, Derek Kavanagh, who looked like he was being fouled, missed a glorious chance of a goal. Like Pat O’Shea said after, it was their best chance. Kerry breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Moment number two then followed as the game rolled into injury time when Kieran Donaghy kicked a stupendous pressure point from the terrace side that gave Kerry the lead.

It was a point fit to win any game but if that was good, Sean O’Sullivan’s point was just as good, if not better as he added a sublime finished touch to a move that started with a rampaging Aidan O’Mahony run up the side line.

And that was it. The whistle sounded, christening Kerry as Munster football champions, and as the supporters invaded the pitch after to see Declan O’Sullivan lift the cup, you couldn’t help but think back to last year’s decider.

It was redemption day for Kerry football. Roll on the All-Ireland quarter-finals in early August.

Kerry: D Murphy; M ” Sé, T O’Sullivan, P Reidy; T ” Sé, A O’Mahony, K Young; D ” Sé, M Quirke, Declan O’Sullivan (0-3), E Brosnan (0-1), P Galvin; C Cooper (1-2), K Donaghy (0-2), MF Russell (0-6, 0-5 frees).

Subs used: S O’Sullivan (0-1) for Galvin, T Griffin for Quirke, Darren O’Sullivan for Brosnan, B Sheehan for Declan O’Sullivan.

Cork: P O’Shea; M Shields, G Canty, K O’Connor; N O’Leary, G Spillane, A Lynch; D Kavanagh. N Murphy (0-1); F Goold, P O’Neill (0-1), K McMahon (0-1), J Masters (0-4, 0-2 frees), M Cussen (0-2), D O’Connor (1-4, 0-4 frees).

Subs used: J Miskella for Goold, C McCarthy for Lynch.

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