Eamonn Fitzmaurice has admitted that Kerry's recent poor record against Dublin provided them with ample motivation going into yesterday's Allianz League clash.

The Kingdom had only beaten their old rivals once in eight meetings since 2010, which made the 0-15 to 1-12 victory at Fitzgerald Stadium all the sweeter.

"Dublin have a great record against us in the recent past," the Kerry boss noted.

"Going back to the 2011 (All-Ireland) final, we haven't beaten them once in the league, other than February 2012. Bar that, league and championships, they've beaten us every time since.

"Big motivation from our point of view to win the game today and to try and arrest that record. Dublin were anxious to hold onto it for obvious reasons. It was always going to be a physical encounter and that's the way it turned out."

Fitzmaurice felt Kerry's four unanswered points just after half-time was the winning of the match.

"We got scores straight after half-time and it gave us a bit of momentum. The crowd got involved and got behind the team. That hail-shower in the middle of it made it interesting for a few minutes," he said.

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