Twelve years after Kevin McManamon dramatically turned the tide in the 2011 All-Ireland final and arguably the entire Dublin-Kerry relationship, Jack O'Connor was once again left ruing a decisive goal in front of the Hill.
In the aftermath of their fourth successive All-Ireland final defeat to Dublin - a quadrennial occurrence now since the '11 final - O'Connor was immediately inclined to cite the Paddy Small goal early in the second half, which arrived out of nowhere following a turnover in the Kerry defence, as the key moment.
While Kerry's initial response to the goal was superb, with the excellent Paudie Clifford firing over a brace of scores to help restore their three-point lead within just four minutes of the Small strike, O'Connor reckoned those exertions ran down their tank as they entered the final quarter.
"I just thought the goal was a huge turning point," said O'Connor.
"I just think that the effort it took for us to come back, the goal just gave Dublin energy. The last thing you want to give Dublin playing into the Hill is a goal because it just gives them huge energy. It's like a bolt of electricity goes through the whole ground.
"Even though we reacted tremendously to it, it just gave them a sniff that they were back in the game, because up to the goal, I thought we were well on course to win the game. It's just one of those things, slippery ball, tough conditions, these things happen.
"Once Dublin smelled it, they have the extra bit of experience and know-how that has seen them getting over the line in tight games before. This one was no different."
In contrast with past Dublin-Kerry humdingers in 2013 and 2016, this wasn't a day for forwards - having more in common with the dank, rain-sodden decider of 2015.
The first half in particular was a cagey affair, with both attacks struggling to make headway. While Kerry led 1-04 to 0-06 at the break, courtesy of Paul Geaney's expertly taken goal on the stroke of half-time, were they too conservative and risk-averse in possession early on?
O'Connor, in the aftermath of his third final defeat in seven appearances, concedes the point to an extent, though he cited mitigating circumstances in the conditions.
And he was quick to return to the Small goal and its large consequences.
"Yeah, there were times we thought we were a bit conservative with the ball. And I know conditions were very skiddy and the way Dublin set up they’d a couple of banks of four in front of our forwards and it wasn’t easy to kick ball for example, particularly with the conditions.
"Once it hit the ground, it was going to take off. Maybe it curtailed our normal kicking game a bit, and I suppose we were never really able to get into the flow you want to get into up front.
"But we were still three points up halfway through the second half and went back three points up again, so we must have been doing something right. I think, ultimately, as I said, the goal was a big turning point and, looking back, we would have regrets about a few chances we missed in the second half."
After going 1-11 to 1-08 ahead on 50 minutes, Kerry failed to score for another 15 minutes - coincidentally, the same time period in which they went scoreless against Derry. In the semi-final, their difficulty was in arriving in scoring positions. On Sunday, the shooting shipped more of the blame.
"I don’t think it was that we didn’t have chances. I don’t know what the wide count was today off the top of my head, but I thought we created chances. I can remember several chances we had, we missed a situation where we had a fisted point for the taking, missed a couple coming in from angles that could have gone over, so I thought we were still creating chances," he explained.
"I thought it was a very even game. Maybe they were a bit more clinical in front of goal than we were, but it’s very hard to fault our fellas. I thought our defensive display was tremendous, our backs kept a lot of their main men quiet.
"Tom [O’Sullivan] kept Costello very quiet, Tadhg [Morley] and Jason [Foley], between them, did great work on Con O’Callaghan. I thought Graham [O’Sullivan] did really well on [Ciarán] Kilkenny. A lot of the big players we targeted, I thought our men did very well on them."
Footballer of the Year David Clifford endured one of his most difficult afternoons on the big stage, stroking over two points from play but missing many more attempts, particularly late in the game. While now nine-time All-Ireland winner Mick Fitzsimons took much acclaim for his marking job, Clifford nonetheless got free often enough to have racked up more scores.
Man of the Match in the 2022 decider, the 2023 final will ultimately not contribute much to the great man's highlight reel.
O'Connor wasn't about to entertain the notion that Clifford was to blame for the loss, describing him as a "magnificent player".
"There is a lot on David Clifford’s shoulders every day he plays," the Kerry manager declared.
"David Clifford has been magnificent for us all the year. We were hoping upon hope that we would get him up the steps, himself and Paudie today, after the tough year he’s had, after the long year he’s had," he added.
"I don’t think there is a player that has ever had a year like David Clifford has had since last January when he won the All-Ireland junior here, right through to now. He’s been a magnificent captain for us, and just a great man."
