Charlie Carter strides towards the front exit of Parnell Park, a thin cut resting above a quiet smile. The skies are blue and those in black and amber mill around the gate. "It was a good performance, we did what we had to do," he nods as he scribbles his name on a Kilkenny yearbook.

"We kept a low profile, we hadn't hurled well in the League but Kilkenny never hurl well on a soft sod. And the newspapers hyped up Dublin a bit too much. Sort of shot themselves in the foot," he says.

Outside the dressing room, Dublin's Conor McCann attempts to make sense of the previous 70 minutes.

"We just sort of accepted it. I dunno if the heads dropped. I mean we were still going alright at the end. We kept trying anyway. They were probably very motivated but we knew they'd be up for it," he offers, his voice trailing off.

His manager, Michael O'Grady, is more succinct.

"They played championship hurling, we didn't. It's not a huge setback this, it's a young team and they can come back."

He is stoic, has seen days like these before, as has DJ Carey. In the end, they sang Carey's name whenever he approached the ball.

"I got a fantastic reception, I was almost embarrassed to look up. There were Dublin and Kilkenny people clapping," he grins, shaking his head as he stands in a dull, empty dressing room, a glimmer in his eye.

"OK, there was a lot of publicity with what happened to me and with Kilkenny not hurling well but, because of today's performance, that turned around. I can't tell you why or how," he says.

He takes questions patiently, as though glad that his on-field endeavours are the issue once again. "My fitness has been good but my ballwork was not as good as normal because I didn't get much chance to work on it. This was one of those days you can enjoy because everything goes right for you. I have been on the end of one or two of those hammerings against Offaly and they are not enjoyable," he smiles.

Parnell Park is emptying now; most of his team-mates have left the venue. But he pauses to reflect on Dublin.

"I do feel sorry for Dublin . . . they came in here with high expectations and justifiably so, and today was a set-back. But it should only be a small set-back. Hurling needs a Dublin All-Ireland; I said that to them in the dressingroom last year and I still say it."

Maybe at 3.30 pm, the notion seemed vaguely possible; a place in the Leinster final was at least a tenable option. But afterwards, the gloom was palpable.

"Kilkenny were just . . .," An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, sought an appropriate superlative.

"Dublin were very well prepared for this, they were fit enough but Kilkenny played superbly. Kilkenny just overran them in the second half. It was suggested that our forwards might be a bit light but at the end of the day, it was our backs," he said ruefully.

But the players at least, were unbowed.

"Thank Jesus it's a bank holiday tomorrow," said Conor McCann with a trace of a grin.

"You don't give up on one day. You play for the good days and when the bad days happen you get on with it."