Miserable victors face a tactical challenge

LONG FACES, slumped shoulders.

Is there anything so awkward as the funereal hush of the crestfallen dressing room in Croke Park? Players tiptoe around the dishevelled remains of battle, glancing, not looking. Miming, not whispering.

And then, mercifully, the county board chairman breaks the silence. "What's the problem lads? Lift it up. Ye're in an All-Ireland semi-final. You'd swear we lost."