Little solace for Tipperary

One mission accomplished, and the prospect of meeting a Kerry legend who is the messiah in another land prompts some humour in the old dressing-room. "Either way, at least there'll be Kerrymen in Croke Park on All-Ireland Final day," quipped Maurice Fitzgerald, the county's modern-day talisman of the impending clash with Kildare and Mick O'Dwyer.

But that's another day's work. Yesterday, Kerry huffed and puffed for times like the big bad wolf and eventually ruined any romantic notions that Tipperary's new-found football supporters may have dared to entertain; and the overwhelming sense of relief in the steam-filled Kerry changing room told its own story.

"It was built-up all week as one-way traffic, but we knew we had to stay very focused," insisted Fitzgerald. "All we had to do was remember the past few years to know that Tipperary were a very good team and we didn't expect anything easy. That's exactly the way it turned out."

His opinions were shared by teammates. Eamon Breen felt Tipperary had "improved by 100 per cent since we first met them in 1995. We knew it would be a tough game and they definitely used the ball a lot better". Liam O'Flaherty was equally complimentary: "They're as fit as we are and they were very confident coming into the game. It was easy for them to get motivated, but we had to dig very deep, which was just as well."

Paidi O Se, indeed, had sought the sanctuary of the dressing-room long before Kerry captain Seamus Moynihan had finished his speech on the VIP section of the stand across the pitch. O Se was a relieved man, and ready to fire out genuine compliments to the vanquished.

"They showed what a good team they are. There was a time when Tipperary footballers would kick the ball away foolishly, but there was none of that today and that's the big difference I saw in their game," he said. "Their defenders also closed us down very effectively. We only had one goal chance in the entire match and their goalkeeper pulled off a great save to deny Pa (Laide). However, we were clever enough to take our points and that gave us a cushion when they got the goal. I was pleased too with the way we reacted, going straight upfield for Maurice to score a point."

All the compliments flying about didn't do much good down the corridor in the Tipperary dressing-room. Manager Colm Browne was too disappointed to speak, and team captain Brian Burke couldn't take in a fourth defeat in four years at the hands of the Kerrymen in the championship.

"They seem to be our bogey team," remarked Burke, "we just can't get by them. I know they're saying nice things about us and how we played, but, at the end of the day, that's little consolation because we want to be winners.

"We came so close but not close enough, and I suppose they're not All-Ireland champions for nothing. They showed what a good team they are, and their backs played really well to limit us."

So, what does the future hold for Tipperary? "The talent is there, we've got so many good young players and some older ones too who still have a lot to offer. Maybe we have a few good years left," said Burke, who'd obviously prefer to meet Anna Kournikova (revealed in the match programme) than the bogeymen of Kerry.