Eamonn Fitzmaurice admits that he expected Dublin - and not Donegal - to provide opposition to Kerry in the All-Ireland SFC final.

After guiding Kerry to victory over Mayo in an epic semi-final replay at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday, August 30th, the Kingdom manager was in Croke Park the following day to witness Jim McGuinness' side dethrone the Dubs in dramatic fashion in the second semi:

"We all probably expected it to be Dublin, that Dublin would win, but I think, in fairness to Jim Gavin, he's been trying to say it all year, but nobody was listening, that there are no certainties in sport," the Finuge clubman states in The Irish Examiner.

"I think nearly after every game he said it and there aren't any certainties in sport. To be fair to Dublin they started well, but they faded and when Donegal got a smell of blood they were outstanding, they were brilliant in the second half.

"Watching the game, it wasn't overly surprising they won, but nobody expected it really beforehand because Donegal probably hadn't got back to the 2012 levels until the last day, but there very much there again now and they'll be a very tough nut to crack.

"There's a lot to take from it tactically, we learned a lot from being above at it the last day and we're going through the footage at the moment and trying to figure out what they're doing and to see if we can counteract it while at the same time staying loyal to our own game as well. It'll be a good challenge as well for myself and the management and the players."

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