`Armagh brought out the best in us'

Tired, sapped limbs stumble slowly up the few steps at the end of the tunnel under the New Stand as exhausted player after player escapes the pitch to return to the sanctuary of the winners' dressing-room.

Some minutes later Paidi O Se, imitating a spring lamb, bounds up the same steps with a massive smile on his face. "Ah god lads, that was a tough one," he remarks. And, with that, the Kerry boss is gone inside to thump backs and preach the good word to his converted souls.

Seamus Moynihan, the Kerry captain, has been peerless at full back this season but he wasn't taking any personal plaudits. "We're just delighted to have won, to be back in an All-Ireland final," he said.

"Armagh are very fit, with a lot of running involved in their game and the wing backs attacking the whole time, but it's very hard to keep that up constantly over 100 minutes. We persisted with the long ball and it meant we probably had a bit more pep in our legs at the end.

"But what this match did show is that this is now a 20-man game and the strength of the panel so important. This was shown by Aodhan MacGearailt. Things didn't go right for him in the first half but he came back on in extra-time and played an integral part . . . won brilliant ball, defended and harassed and made scores . . . and that's what it is all about. It's great that you can use five subs, because it means you can bring your whole panel into it."

So, what about that save?

Goalkeeper Declan O'Keeffe was talking of the part that luck played in the save that prevented Oisin McConville from scoring a late goal. Armagh joint manager Brian McAlinden referred to it as "probably the save of the season from O'Keeffe in the Kerry goals" but the man who stopped it was being modest.

"It was purely instinctive and I didn't really know much about it, to be honest," said O'Keeffe in the sort of tone that suggests he'll be retelling the story for some time. "It just broke off a high ball and I put my two hands up and lucky enough it stayed out . . . then there was the other one that came off my legs and screwed up over the bar. It could just as easily have gone in."

Of the team performance, O'Keeffe was more effusive. "We really dug in and helped each other out. We knew coming up that Armagh were a quality side, and still are, but we weren't coming away without winning this game. Armagh brought out the best in us, even if it took a long time for the best to come out."

But, as Dara O Se was keen to point out, the Sam Maguire is another day's work. "I suppose we showed the true Kerry character today. We've been around for a while and had a couple of knocks but nothing has been won yet. We're only into the All-Ireland final and, seeing the way Galway played last week, we've got to come back and pick it up again. I suppose our problems are just starting."

McAlinden emphasised the immense pride he felt for his players after a game of "clean, honest-to-goodness football, a marvellous game of football to be involved in."

"This was a better performance than last year against Meath. We moved up a gear, but still didn't move up to a high enough gear at the end of the day."