Mayo are top of Division 1 of the Allianz National Football League after they secured a 1-12 to 1-10 win over Kerry in Tralee.
Substitute Conor Mortimer made a stunning impact as he struck four points from play in a devastating eight-minute spell to help Mayo secure their fourth victory of the campaign.
Kerry nudged ahead for half-time - 0-05 to 0-04 - with Bryan Sheehan and Colm Cooper scoring two points apiece.
But Mortimer's excellent scores and Tom Parsons' 58th-minute goal saw Mayo move ahead, before Kieran O'Leary grabbed a late consolation goal for Kerry.
The football was of a poor quality in the first half, particularly the finishing. Mayo dropped a number of balls short and into the welcoming hands of Kerry goalkeeper Brendan Kealy, while the Kingdom's attack never really got going.
The Kerry team included only six players who started last year's All-Ireland final, while target man Kieran Donaghy was a late withdrawal.
2010 captain Bryan Sheehan took his place in the starting line-up, lining out at centre-forward and Declan O'Sullivan moved to full-forward.
Mayo hit the ground running and went ahead in the opening minute as Enda Varley converted a free. Sheehan replied with a similar effort for the home side who had a goal disallowed for an illegal handpass.
Varley, from play, and Cooper (free) swapped points before a rather listless spell saw both sides struggle to turn possession into points.
Mayo were more guilty as they struck a series of wides and failed to allow for a swirling wind, but two frees from Varley, the second of which he won himself, had the reigning Connacht champions 0-04 to 0-02 to the good by the 26th minute.
Marc O Sé kicked Kerry's fifth wide but Jack O'Connor's men had the better of the play coming up to half-time, with Sheehan, O'Leary and Cooper adding points to put them ahead.
Sheehan's second score was probably the best of the half as the St Mary's clubman took up possession and cracked a terrific 40-yard shot over off the outside of his right boot.
A fracas late in the half saw yellow cards dished out to Kerry's Adrian O'Connell and David Moran, while Mayo duo Andy Moran and Donal Vaughan were also booked.
Turning around with a wind advantage, Kerry, with Micheál Quirke and Donaghy both brought on as substitutes, looked better placed to go after the win. But Mayo really rose to the challenge and they were quickly back on terms thanks to a pointed free from Alan Dillon.
Kerry replied with a point from Cooper, when a goal looked on, and Donaghy laid the ball off for O'Leary to crash a shot off the crossbar and over.
The attacking at both ends of the pitch was swifter and more precise and Mayo upped the ante in that regard. Moran pointed a '45' and John O'Mahony's charges were level at 0-07 apiece when Conor Mortimer scored from an acute angle after getting the better of his marker, Tom O'Sullivan.
Sheehan and Donaghy were both involved in the build-up to Kerry's eighth point, a well-taken effort by Cooper, but Mayo claimed the next five points to power into a sudden 0-12 to 0-08 lead.
Keith Higgins and Dillon did the donkey work for Mortimer's second point, and then Dillon knocked over a free to put his side back in front. Seamus O'Shea tested Kealy's reflexes with a goal-bound effort, team captain Trevor Mortimer got in on the scoring act and then teed up his brother Conor for his third before a fourth quickly followed from distance.
The killer blow for Kerry came in the 58th minute when Parsons raced through to stab home the game's first goal and put seven points between the sides.
Mayo were far fitter and sharper on the ball during that crucial period and Kerry needed to jolt back into action. They got a '45' which Sheehan converted for their first score in 16 minutes and the same player pointed a free with just a minute to go, but a comeback was never on the cards.
O'Leary stuck the ball past Mayo goalkeeper David Clarke with the last kick of the game, but there was no denying that Mayo, who are top of the table courtesy of a better points difference than Cork and Dublin, were worthy winners on the day.
The result also means Kerry's title defence is effectively over.
