'We kept to the gameplan and players got their just rewards'

Even that hasn’t shaken the shackles loose.

The rest of the country may be trying to catch its breath from the best clash of them all in the most storied rivalry of them all. We may feel like we’ve been taken on a fast and winding ride in the back of a van, being thrown from side to side and never knowing what turn is coming next. Dublin may have stopped Kerry’s lengthy tentacles reaching for yet another September showdown. But still, Jim Gavin pours icy water on any and every fiery flutter of excitement. It’s quite a skill after what he’s just achieved and we’ve just witnessed.

But as always, his words are choreographed into bland and careful sentences that you refuse to believe are a reflection of what he feels. After all, there’s not a soul that couldn’t have been warmed by that, not a bone that couldn’t have been shaken by that.