Kingdom savour the sweet smell of success

HAPPINESS is an empty bottle of shower gel. The Kerry dressing room in Croke Park was open for business yesterday from around half-five, and smelling of equal parts victory and upmarket grooming products.

Goalscorer Declan O’Sullivan leaned against the wall on the way in from the man of the match presentation, a rare pause on an energetic afternoon. Relieved?

“I wouldn’t say relief, there were a lot of question marks over us coming into the game after the match with Monaghan, but people were being a bit unfair on Monaghan. We’re delighted to show an improvement on that — and to get over a very good Dublin team, who’ve been the form team for much of the championship.