Patience is often severely tested during a football famine, but that was the watchword for Kerry in their All Ireland final win over Donegal.
Ending a five-year wait for the Sam Maguire trophy, manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice found the gameplan needed to overcome Donegal at Croke Park and speaking to Oisin Langan after the victory, the Lixnaw man emphasized the importance of patience as he explained the tactics behind the win:
"I think patience was a big word in our whole make up during the lead up to the game. We had to be very patient because to be fair to Donegal, if you do come out and go at them aggressively, they'll catch you on the counter-attack. We had to very disciplined and patient," said Fitzmaurice, who also touched on the mini spy scandal involving a man watching Kerry training from a nearby tree.
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"We got our goals and that was ultimately the difference," he concluded.
One of those goals came from Kieran Donaghy who played a towering tactical role for the Kingdom. He told Oisin that belief in the face of adversity from a personal and team perspective helped the Kingdom over the line.
But he also spoke about how he was instructed to be "a menace around the place" to unsettle the Donegal defence and was full of praise for James O'Donoghue.
The four-time All Ireland winner also explained why he thinks this is up there as one of Kerry's most important All Ireland wins.
While Donaghy has been there and worn the t-shirt many a time already, this was a first national trophy for 24-year-old O'Donoghue and the thrilled Tralee man spoke about Fitzmaurice's plan and the frustrations of trying to break down the Donegal defence, adding that they "made their own luck".
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