Matthew Ruane fired the all-important goal as Mayo claimed a wonderful 1-10 to 0-11 victory over Kerry in terrible conditions at packed Austin Stack Park.

Mayo’s fourth win of the campaign gives them a chance of sealing a place in the league final, as they are now tied with Galway on eight points each, both two ahead of Dublin and one above Tyrone after the Red Hands beat the Dubs at Croke Park tonight.

Kerry carried a 100% record into the game but were comprehensively outplayed in the second half, Aidan O’Shea influential as the visitors registered 1-6 to 0-4 with the wind at their backs in that second period.

With a point between the teams, Ruane won it for James Horan’s men in the 68th minute when he gathered a brilliant Kevin McLoughlin pass and steered a calm shot low beneath Brian Kelly to the net to make it 1-10 to 0-9.

Five unanswered points helped Peter Keane’s men lead by three points at the break, 0-7 to 0-4, but they had a gale-force wind at their backs in the opening period and didn’t really make enough of it.

With the Kingdom donning gold and Mayo in blue in front of a full house of 10,000 on a wet and windy night in Tralee, McLoughlin opened the scoring with a lovely strike off his right boot and Ruane ran through the Kerry defence to add a second on five minutes, the hosts having opted to play with the elements behind them in the first half.

Jason Doherty added Mayo’s third in the eighth minute and Sean O’Shea blasted over the Munster champions’ first point 60 seconds later, before following up with a classy free on 14 minutes. Making his first start of the year, McLoughlin bagged a lovely point off his left as the Kerry defence was exposed again.

Mayo's Stephen Coen and Tommy Walsh of Kerry during a down pour at Austin Stack Park

Kevin McCarthy and O’Shea tied the scores up for the first time and, with the rain sweeping across the field, Tommy Walsh gave the hosts the lead for the first time when he pointed a free from an advanced mark following eight scoreless minutes at either end.

Two minutes from the break, with hailstones hopping off his head, O’Shea registered Kerry’s fourth unanswered point (free) and McCarthy immediately made it five without reply.

Doherty’s free from the hands gave Mayo a good start to the second half and Kelly came off his line to deny Ruane as the visitors spurned a series of presentable scoring opportunities.

Kerry’s Diarmuid O’Connor hit his side’s first score of the second half in the 51st minute but Mayo replied with quickfire points from Fionn McDonagh and Doherty (free) to trail by just one at the three-quarters stage. Substitute Fergal Boland fisted the levelling point on 53 minutes and Doherty (free) landed the visitors’ fourth unanswered point inside five minutes as they reclaimed the lead with 14 minutes remaining.

O’Shea’s magnificent ‘45’ into the wind tied the scores up for the third time with eight minutes left but Doherty tapped over a Mayo free from close-in on 65 minutes, setting the scene for Ruane’s match-winning goal.

O’Shea and substitute James O’Donoghue pulled back points in the first three of six minutes of injury time to halve the deficit but Mayo held out for a merited victory.

These two could meet again in the Division One final at the end of the month. Kerry need only a point against struggling Roscommon next weekend to seal a place in the decider (and could advance even if they lose), while Mayo are at home to Monaghan, where victory will see them qualify if Galway fail to win in Tyrone.

Mayo - D Clarke; C Barrett, B Harrison, K Higgins; S Coen, M Plunkett, D Vaughan; M Ruane (1-1), S Coen; F McDonagh (0-1), C Loftus, D O’Connor; K McLoughlin (0-2), J Doherty (0-5f), J Durcan. Subs: A Moran for J Durcan, F Boland (0-1) for C Loftus, R Hennelly for D Clarke, L Keegan for D Vaughan.

Kerry - B Kelly; P Crowley, T Morley, B O Beaglaioch; G Crowley, P Murphy, T O’Sullivan; J Barry, M Griffin; D Moynihan, S O’Shea (0-6, 3f, 1'45), G O’Brien; K McCarthy (0-2), T Walsh (0-1m), S O’Brien. Subs: D O’Connor (0-1) for K McCarthy, T O’Se for D Moynihan, J O’Donoghue (0-1) for T Walsh, C Geaney for S O’Brien.

Referee - N Cullen.

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