Colm Cooper has taken his hat off to Philly McMahon who he says had a 'fantastic season' in Dublin's march to All-Ireland glory.

The Gooch came out second best in his personal duel with the Ballymun clubman in the Sam Maguire decider but he defended McMahon from the negative press he receives due to his robust playing style.

"You can talk about various points in his play, but the biggest point is that he had a fantastic season. He marked big players in big games and did very, very well against them," the Kerry forward said to The Irish Independent.

"I've seen it with different players that they come under the microscope an awful lot. We've had it in Kerry with Paul Galvin for a number of years. Some of it fair, some of it unfair. That's just the nature of the beast but I just think he had a very good season with Dublin."

He added: "I spent a lot of time running around Croke Park in September after him and believe me that was a difficult job. I saw different parts of Croke Park that I never saw before!"

Speaking at Abbey CBS school in Newry as an AIB ambassador, the Dr Crokes player repeated the GPA stance that the players should have been made aware that referee David Coldrick was mic'd up for the All-Ireland final and that his interaction with players would later be aired in the documentary 'All-Ireland Day'.

"Should the players be told before the game? I think they should. It was there, not to catch out players I don't think, but it was there to show the public what really happens. But I think it would have been nice if they had let both squads know at least.

"In the heat of the moment players can come out with anything and you don't want to be portrayed as something that you're not. Obviously David Coldrick knew about it. He was very cool, calm and collected but the players weren't as cool!"

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