KERRY threw open the doors to their dressing-room in that way only winning teams do. Everyone willing to give their opinion and have their say. More than anyone who'd been on the pitch, man of the match Darragh O Se had earned his right to speak.

He was generous, though again, it was generous in the way a winning player can be.

"Ah you know I'm not sure there's much between us really, " he said. "Today we got the breaks, another day it could have been Armagh who'd have come out on top.

We gave a great second-half display, we won the breaks around the middle and we got the goals. Then it was only when Darren O'Sullivan cracked in the last goal we really could relax in a way."

As for Donaghy, he spoke with a level enough head for O Se not to have to worry about him being "only a young fella". "I hope people don't be building us up now you know, " he said. "It's just the one win. Hopefully Kerry people will just get behind us and not start talking about All Irelands or anything.

We've got a game in two weeks and we can concentrate on that."

And how about you, Kieran? How does it feel to be a media darling all of a sudden? "It's strange alright. I did feel a bit of pressure of course. I never expected people to be talking so much about me the week of an AllIreland quarter-final with Armagh but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

"For the goal I think Seanie [O'Sullivan] was just taking a shot in fairness, I got my hands on it and I think Francie slipped so I got round him like that."

Jack O'Connor was equally upbeat, opining that the defeat by Cork brought the panel closer together. When asked about rumours of unrest in the Kerry camp he commented, "Sure what's the harm in a few sceilps in training? Isn't that what you want?"

Joe Kernan was typically philosophical about the defeat as he faced the media scrum outside his dressingroom. No finger-pointing or excuses here. "Well, we missed a few easy chances in the opening half and we really felt we should have been more than two points ahead at half-time. But we gave away a bad goal then which put us in a worse position than we deserved probably. Then we came out and when we should have been taking the game by the scruff of the neck Kerry got a few scores and we were on the back foot.

"Then we made a few changes and unfortunately it was just one of those days where the changes didn't work. But you have to say Kerry were the better team in the end. And despite all this we were still well in the game with five minutes left. I'd have to fancy Kerry to be serious contenders for this All-Ireland now alright though."

Kernan wouldn't be drawn on the future of some of the Armagh camp, including his own. "Ah, it's way too early to be asking a terrible question like that of my players. All I know is that these guys have given great service to us and made people want to watch Armagh football. I think there's life in the old dogs yet though."

After the second game, Billy Morgan said: "I feel for Donegal. I really do, they didn't deserve to lose. We stole it but we'll take the win.

"Donegal should have been out of sight at half-time. We just didn't get out of the blocks at all. We came out in the second half with a different attitude.

Looking ahead to a repeat of last year's All Ireland semifinal, Morgan claimed: "After the Munster final, I had a feeling we would meet them (Kerry) again, but that's two weeks away. We'll relax and enjoy the night and regroup again during the week."