"There is plenty of character in the group and I expect the boys to get their heads down. There is a lot of desire in the group. I said it to the boys inside, put up your hand if you felt you had your best game today. There was nobody putting their hand up."

Mayo have plenty of room for improvement ahead of the replay insists Stephen Rochford.

"I suppose when you look at why the black card was brought in, it was for cynical play, for blocks, pull-downs or trips. I don't think it (McCarthy's tackle) fits into that category. But from the referee's performance, we're just looking for consistency."

James McCarthy's controversial black card was a source of major frustration for Jim Gavin.

"Would we have taken a replay with three minutes to go? Most certainly. Could we have won the game? Most certainly."

The glass is half full as far as Andy Moran is concerned.

"That's why he's our leader, our captain. He's just coolness personified."

Cillian O'Connor's late heroics was singled out for special mention by his team-mate Lee Keegan.

"We are delighted, we always knew it was going to be exceptionally tough. There were fellas I know were saying that this was going to be a stroll because of the scores we'd been kicking all year - far from it."

Peter Keane continued where Jack O'Connor left off by masterminding Kerry's third All-Ireland MFC success.

"In the first half we didn't play. We were nervous. They had that little bit more experience, this being their third game here and the fact that a lot of their lads played colleges finals here."

Galway produced a much improved second-half showing but Stephen Joyce's team came up short. 

"The first I heard of this story was probably two or three weeks ago when my brother-in-law sent me a text and said I hear you're working with Mayo. Totally untrue. Very disappointing I have to say as well. Not for me but it was very disparaging for the Mayo management."

2012 Donegal All-Ireland winning boss Jim McGuinness had no involvement whatsoever in Mayo's final preparations.

"I'd say I'll just play the one next year. I suppose this year, just the way the fixtures fell with both teams getting to the quarter-finals, big games were on the same weekend."

Clare star Podge Collins revealed that his dual days are over.

"I think it is absolute rubbish. I genuinely think that what he does isn't right. Why go after people's character? I don't think that is right, or appropriate."

James Horan took exception to Joe Brolly's scathing criticism of the Mayo team in his weekly Sunday Independent column.

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