Joe Kernan talks to Ian O'Riordan about the sending-off of Diarmuid Marsden and players diving

Defeat, it seems, has provided the incentive for Joe Kernan to remain as Armagh manager for a third year. Yesterday in a deserted ballroom in the Citywest hotel Kernan held an impromptu press conference to reflect on the downside of All-Ireland football finals, but his opening lines were about the future.

"Oh I'm coming back next year," he started. "To be honest I would have quit on Sunday if we'd won. But those boys have given so much, and right now there is no one talking about quitting.

"Of course you can stay too long, but you can spoil the good work if you go too soon. So I'm definitely going to stay for another year. There's no guarantee we'll be back next year, but I know we're still good enough to give it a go. And every one of those players were adamant that they were going to stay on."

No less of a presence in the moment of defeat, Kernan, with that voice which seems to come from the middle of the earth, then addressed some of the more topical matters of Sunday's game. Like the sending-off of Diarmuid Marsden. So did he deserve to go?

"No, I definitely know that Diarmuid should not have been sent off. I'm not saying we could have won if he hadn't but that is something we're all feeling bad about. And I'm very disappointed about.

"And the situation where someone lays down and pretends they're hurt, well, there is too much of that going on in our game. There was other stuff going on off the ball that people turned a blind eye to, and that's wrong too.

"But Tyrone are All-Ireland champions now, I respect them for that and I won't take anything away from their win. But I think we should all sit down now with the referees and county boards and decide what's legal and what is not."

Outside in the hotel lobby Marsden also fielded the question of his sending-off, and it was clear the hurt still ran deep.

"Well I didn't know I was going," he said. "The whole thing was a bit of a blur to be honest. The umpire said I struck him but I just saw the man coming towards me and it was more a case of getting myself out of the way or protecting myself.

"So he went down, and that was how it worked out. I'd never been sent off for Armagh before and to be sent off in an All-Ireland final is hard to take. Hopefully I won't be remembered for that. And I wouldn't like to end the career on that note.

"Though maybe if we had won it I might have. The supporters and my family were great, but it's hard to take in at this stage and it probably won't kick in for a few days."

For Kernan the more probing questions about where it went wrong were more difficult to answer. Deep down he knows his team didn't perform the way he'd been programming them to, and there's no easy explanation for that.

"We'll look at every aspect of the game. What we did, what they did, what the referee did, and see can we find ways to improve. And we'll lick our wounds. But we've won an All-Ireland, and got back to the final. I think that's a phenomenal achievement. And no one will tell me we won't win another one.

"But I always believed we could win two titles back to back. And we were just one step short. Next year could be even harder to get back but pain can drive you on. And there's definitely another year at least in this team. This is not the time to say how much we need to freshen things up, but there are some good young players around the county, and we'll go out and have a look at them."

Kernan then singled out a few moments that helped ease the pain of Sunday's defeat: "When we were getting on to the bus there were a crowd of Tyrone supporters applauding us, which I thought was fantastic. And I can tell you when the final whistle went and all the Tyrone supporters came running past me there wasn't one bad word said. To me that was great."

There are memories though of Sunday that for now Kernan will keep to himself, such as what was said inside the four walls of the Armagh dressing-room at half-time. Motivation tools, perhaps, for the future. "Well, whatever I said, it didn't work. But no, they went out to give it the best they had. And it just wasn't good enough on the day.

"But then I think if Steven McDonnell had got that goal towards the end, even with the man down I think we would have won the game. Big matches hinge on certain things and that was one of them.

"But we were confident before the game that we could win it, and even at half-time. But that bit of luck, which we had last year, fell with Tyrone this time. And every team that wins an All-Ireland has a bit of luck on their side."

Last words before the departure north came from McDonnell, who could have provided the match-winner if not for Conor Gormley's miraculous intervention.

"Well I didn't see him coming, and it was like he arrived from nowhere. But I'd say it was one of the best tackles ever. If the goal had gone in it could have changed the game.

"So I'd say the past 24 hours have been the worst experience of my life. We went to Croke Park expecting to win. But we just didn't play to the best of our ability. Tyrone did. So fair play to them."