"What happens on the pitch stays on the pitch We shook hands and that was the end of it."

Philly McMahon doesn't think he has a case to answer over his alleged eye gouge on Kieran Donaghy.

"Like nothing will ever match Kevin Heffernan's team and what he did for Dublin GAA. You know his spark and genius. . . we just stand on his shoulders really. Dublin GAA certainly wouldn't be what it is today but for those teams in the '70s. They really got the city alive again to gaelic football."

Victorious manager Jim Gavin brushed off comparisons with the great Dublin team of the seventies.

"If you are going to win an All-Ireland final you have to turn up, you have to play. We didn't do that today."

Kerry didn't do themselves justice according to Eamonn Fitzmaurice.

"We're not ould lads yet. Apart from Ally (Alan Brogan). No, so we still have a bit more bite in the ould dog!"

Talk of Dublin retirements was entertained by Michael Darragh Macauley.

"A lot of people had the knives out for us after last year, a lot of people gave us a lot of stick... I think we gave them their answer this year and we're delighted to win the game."

Flying Dublin half-back James McCarthy was delighted to prove their critics wrong.

"It's a surreal feeling, it's unreal. It was a dog eat dog battle at the end of the day, wet, slippy conditions, but lads just emptied it out on the field. It's a surreal feeling."

After his cruciate ligament nightmare last year, Ciaran Kilkenny was enjoying the Croke Park winners enclosure.

 "I've really enjoyed it, it's probably my natural position in there, at number six. I'm just glad I could make a positive contribution to the team this year and help us to win an All-Ireland."

Dublin centre-back Cian O'Sullivan was a vital cog in the Dublin machine.

"We were hoping there was a big performance in the lads, but we didn't expect as big as performance as that."

It's not all doom and gloom for the Kingdom as Jack O'Connor guided their minors to back-to-back All-Ireland successes.

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