'The boys emptied themselves'- Relief the overriding emotion for Antrim boss Darren Gleeson

Antrim manager Darren Gleeson and Donal Nugent of Antrim celebrate at the final whistle of the Joe McDonagh Cup Final 

Darren Gleeson admitted Antrim had to empty themselves in a 'crazy' second-half to see off Kerry and win back the Joe McDonagh Cup.

The Saffrons were powerless to prevent a 12-point lead at one stage late in the first-half turning into a one-point game at full-time.

Five goals ultimately got Antrim over the winning line, securing their MacCarthy Cup status for 2023, though Gleeson conceded that he felt a little 'numb' after watching his team cough up the dozen-point advantage as Kerry rallied superbly.

"The second-half was crazy, we lost our shape completely," said Gleeson, Tipperary's All-Ireland winning goalkeeper in 2016. "It can happen in games. It's very hard to get instructions onto the field as well. From our point of view we'd look at ourselves on the sideline and say, 'What more could we have done there?' We were trying to relay messages to 'Close it up' but it was very difficult.

"It was a rollercoaster out there and we threw everything we had at it for 45, 50 minutes. The boys emptied themselves."

It's Kerry's third consecutive final defeat and Stephen Molumphy's players may wonder what more they have to do after registering 4-24.

"We seen Kerry in Belfast a few weeks ago in the group, they're relentless and they kept going and they kept going," said Gleeson.

"They came in after the heartbreak of the last two years and it reminded me of what Ronan O'Gara was saying during the week about his own team, La Rochelle, that it's amazing where hurt and searching for your first title will bring you.

"That's what Kerry brought, they were relentless. We had to empty ourselves, we threw everything we had at it. We lost our shape but look, we won at the end of the day. We did enough to do it by one."

Kerry manager Stephen Molumphy said he felt more pride than regret after the epic encounter which ended in another crushing final defeat.

"At the moment I'm just proud," said Molumphy. "When I go back home and review it and think about all the small little things that happened in the game, you might feel different then but look, that's hurling. I'm definitely proud at the moment. The way they fought in that second-half was unbelievable because Antrim came out and got a couple of scores firstly and we didn't know if our guys would respond but they surely did."