O'Connor: We really wanted this one

Kerry manager Jack O'Connor had little trouble in geeing his players up for yesterday's All-Ireland SFC final - the lure of a second title in three years and the chance to silence their doubters was motivation enough.

Since O'Connor was appointed in October 2003, he has led the Kingdom to two All-Ireland wins, two National League triumphs and two Munster championship titles.

But although they were top of the pile in the league in the spring, a less than impressive start the championship season, with two poorly-judged wins over Waterford and Tipperary, had the critics rounding on O'Connor's side.

So to pull through and annex the county's 34th All-Ireland title was all the more sweeter for the Dromid Pearses clubman.

He explained: "I was saying to the boys when we were going out that Mayo were waiting 55 years for an All-Ireland while we were waiting one year, but I'll tell you something I think that (win) was worth an awful lot more than the that Mayo are waiting. We really wanted to win this one.

"We were written off at different times and there was a shell of criticism that I thought was a bit unfair - at the end of the day you answer your critics on the pitch."

Kerry achieved that in emphatic style as they beat a muddled-up Mayo by 4-15 to 3-5 in the cauldron of Croke Park. They got off to a stunning start, going 2-4 to no score ahead before the Connacht champions could draw breath - O'Connor's gameplan worked to a tee.

"Mayo have the kind of team that put you on the backfoot and they're a dangerous team when they do that - they showed that against Dublin. Our policy was to put them defending early on and put the pressure on.

"The two keys to the game were that we cracked them on the kick-outs and we put serious heat on the defenders coming out. Our key men played well.

"I thought Seamus (Moynihan) was fantastic, he was unbelievable. Out of all of them I was most delighted with that man. He lost his place last year and his heart was broken, but what that man does for the team is marvellous.

"He's one of the all-time greats of Kerry football," said O'Connor, praising the Glenfesk veteran who was picking up his fourth All-Ireland winners' medal.