Brian Barry
GAA Editor @BrianGBarry
Peter Keane reluctant to focus on long-term positives after All-Ireland final loss
Last Updated: 16/09/19 4:47pm
Ultimately, it proved too great an ask for Kerry. After hanging with Dublin for the drawn game and the first half of the replay, their resistance eventually waned.
While they face into a winter in which they'll rue their missed opportunity, there are several positives for the Munster county, and the future is bright.
However, it was scant consolation for Peter Keane.
"You're not too worried about going forward today," the Kerry manager said at full time. "You're just disappointed with today's result and you worry about that in the next few weeks or months."
However, he does know that the Kingdom aren't far away from the required standard.
"It's disappointing, we lost the league final here and we've lost an All-Ireland final here. But look that happens," he lamented.
"There was a lot of learning. It was a year that even looking into championship, what were the top six teams in the championship? Dublin, we drew with. Donegal, we drew with. Tyrone, we beat. Ourselves. Cork we had beaten in the Munster Championship. Mayo, we'd beaten in Killarney.
"So there was certainly no easy route to this for a young team and you'd hope they learn from that. But by and large we're reasonably happy but you're not happy to lose an All-Ireland final.
"If you want to put a positive spin on it, you're thinking that but at the end of the day you've lost an All-Ireland final and you go away and you lick your wounds and gather yourself and come at it again next year."
The Cahirciveen native paid tribute to the team's followers, and questioned the timing of the replay.
He said: "In Kerry they totally got behind this team, even between the draw and the replay, the colours that came out, the signs that came out and the support that was there. They just really have been captivated by this team and the youth of them.
"Of course young lads were going to make mistakes but they were backing them in every which way they could. What are we here at six on a Saturday evening which is a crazy time to play an All-Ireland final replay. They came out, you have people who will be heading home on the road tonight to Cahirciveen or Valentia Island and they won't be home until three or four in the morning. They came out and they have supported this team in great numbers."
Nonetheless, he reserved praise for Kerry's victors, who achieved an unprecedented fifth All-Ireland title in succession.
"They're after winning five All-Irelands in a row, it's a historic day," noted Keane. "No matter what was going to happen today, they were either going to win five or not win five. There was going to be history one way or the other. And look you have to compliment them and congratulate them on their achievement."
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