Colm Cooper marked his 80th championship appearance in the Kerry jersey with 2-3 in today's annihilation of Kildare.

After missing out on last year's success due to a cruciate ligament injury, the Gooch was back to his clinical best as the All-Ireland champions produced a masterclass performance against the Lilywhites.

"We're delighted with the display," he said to RTE shortly after the final whistle.

"In fairness to Kildare, they've been on the road for the last three weeks and probably the energy wasn't in the legs to day but we came up firmly focussed on putting in a good performance in Croke Park and, thankfully, we were able to do that today."

The Dr Crokes ace was a late replacement for captain Kieran Donaghy who picked up an injury in the warm-up.

"That's the squad we have, you're going to be in some days, you're not going to make the team other days. Every guy is fighting really, really hard because they want to to be here in Croke Park in August. That's just what we're focussed on."

He concluded: "We'll have tougher tests ahead but just personally very glad to be back in Croke Park.

"It's been a long year but days like today make it all worthwhile and it's great to be back. The hard work has paid off."

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