As well as being delighted that Dublin won on Sunday, Ciaran Whelan was also gutted for Mayo.

The former Dublin midfielder admits it was difficult to take too much satisfaction from seeing the westerners' dreams ripped apart on the big stage yet again:

"I was left with a strange feeling once again in the immediate aftermath of a thrilling clash in Croke Park," he writes in The Irish Independent.

"Normally, the delight at Dublin winning the All-Ireland would supersede all other emotions but maybe the joy is something that will come to me later in the week when I have had time to gather my emotions fully. 

"To be honest, I just would have preferred to see Dublin win by seven or eight points and spare Mayo the gut-wrenching feeling of another heart-breaking defeat by the narrowest of margins.

"Mayo went to the well again and I'm sure the last thing  that they'll want to hear is the usual platitudes of how unlucky they were but I am genuinely sorry for what they went through, given how much they brought to the occasion."

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