Tigerish Tiernan McCann refuses to lie down

When it ended, Tiernan McCann slumped to his knees and hunkered down, rooted to the one spot for a solid two minutes before the weight of disappointment lifted enough for him to raise his head and eyes from the Croke Park turf.

He was there in the thick of it when Maurice Deegan called for the ball, scurrying around the edge of a huddle of players that were jostling for a loose ball.

As a snapshot, it was a truer reflection of the player he is than those pictures of him lying prone on the ground after Darren Hughes ruffled his hair, or the snaps of the aftermath that showed him standing limp amid a forest of enraged Monaghan players who bumped and barged him.