Jack O’Connor used the Cork’s hurlers’ second half implosion against Tipperary seven days earlier to motivate his Kerry players during his All-Ireland SFC final half-time team talk.

Similar to the Rebels, the Kingdom held a commanding lead (seven points) at the break thanks to David Clifford’s third two-pointer in the last play, but were determined not to take their foot off the pedal after the restart.

“Our mantra at half-time was we weren't going to collapse like we saw with the Cork hurlers maybe last week. We were going to go out and try and win the second half,” the victorious Kerry manager told the assembled media at Croke Park.

“We were very determined leaving the hotel this morning. I had a few words with them before we got on the bus that we were going to take the game to Donegal, we weren't going to sit back and just see what they had to offer, we were really going to go after them. We were going after Patton's kickouts, we were going to drive on.”

He added: “There were a pivotal few moments. David's two-pointer on half-time was a big, big score, gave us a cushion going in at half-time, gave the lads a lot of belief.

“Donegal didn't wave any white flag out there in the second half. They brought it back from nine points to four and they were still highly dangerous. A massive effort. Big contribution from an awful lot of players. I’m just thrilled for them because we had a rough old year and it was nice to see it coming together in the end.” 

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