Kerry boss Peter Keane had no problem with the end result as Dublin became the first team in football or hurling to win five All-Ireland titles in succession with their SFC final replay win over his side on Saturday night.
But Keane knows his young team will come again and Dublin’s current dominance of the football landscape will inspire his charges to even greater efforts next season.
Speaking to RTE, Keane said, “Obviously we are very disappointed. We came here with the intention to win and that didn’t happen. That said, I am extremely, extremely proud of the lads and the way they fought and fought to the end. It just wasn’t to be.”
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The concession of a goal to Eoin Murchan from the throw-in at the start of the second half was a body blow for Kerry as Keane admitted.
He added, “It was a sickener of a goal to concede immediately after halftime. At one stage in the first half we were down five points, we got back to level at the break, conceded the goal and got it back to two points again. We had a few opportunities and we just didn’t take them.
“But you can’t win a final unless you get to one. We were delighted to get here, but you want to drive on. At this point you have to congratulate Dublin on their historic achievement of five in a row.
“This is a young team. We had 11 starting in an All-Ireland final for the first time in the drawn game and two more that came on, so that’s 13. In many ways it was great that we got another shot and another opportunity to build on that.”
Read more: Five done, Dubs now search for six
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