Kieran Donaghy reckons Eddie Kinsella "did a great job" of refereeing Sunday's fiery Kerry-Dublin clash in Killarney.

The Laois official dished out twelve cards - eight of them to Dublin, including a late red for Mick Fitzsimons - and Dubs boss Jim Gavin suggested afterwards that some of those decisions were influenced by the reactions of the Kerry players.

Kingdom captain Donaghy, however, who picked up a yellow card himself before leaving the fray with a bloody lip, has praised Gavin's handling of the game:

"Kerry and Dublin is notoriously feisty. I thought Eddie and his officiating team did a great job," the Austin Stacks clubman told The Irish Examiner.

"There were a few skirmishes here and there. I thought he handled it very well. When the cards needed to be given out, he gave them out."

Donaghy was delighted to mark his 32nd birthday by captaining the All-Ireland champions to victory over the league holders:

"It was a big day for me. I wanted to come back in the Tuesday or the Thursday after the Stacks lost, but Eamonn wanted me to take a week off and come back in the following Saturday. It's unbelievable to be given this opportunity and I want to play as many games as I can. To get the chance to lead the boys out into this battle was something I was looking forward to.

"I said to the boys at half time, 'Ye didn't expect anything else, this is going to be a war and a battle'. I think that's what I'm most proud of with the team, that we were able to pull through in a battle."

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