STARRING IN A classic packed with twists and turns doesn’t count for much when you come out on the wrong side of the scoreline.

That a place in the All-Ireland football final was at stake, and that it is historic rivals Dublin rather than Kerry who will return to Croke Park in three weeks’ time, only emphasised the sense of deflation felt by Eamonn Fitzmaurice at the final whistle yesterday.

For 69 minutes the two stood toe-to-toe and traded blows in another blockbuster to add to the canon of their storied relationship. Then Kevin McManamon — that man again — landed the punch which finally killed off the Kingdom.

“I would have taken a dirty win today,” Fitzmaurice sighed when asked if he was able to take a step back and appreciate the quality put on in a sold-out Headquarters by the two footballing giants.

“I don’t think we played as well as we could have to be honest.”

“When I look back at it, in the first half in particular, we had turnovers where we had the wrong kick-pass or turned over possession and Dublin punished us severely on those. They got a lot of scores off them.

You’re always going to make mistakes but in terms of effort, you couldn’t have asked more of the lads today. You couldn’t have asked more of the lads all year. They have been unbelievable with their application.

Every single thing that we’ve asked them to do, they’ve done it for us. I couldn’t have asked any more out of the lads but it just wasn’t good enough today.

A dirty win would have set up a final against Mayo on 22 September and given Kerry a chance to end the barren streak which now stands at four years, the county’s longest run without a title since the mid-1990s.

Where Fitzmaurice is from, those are the numbers that count.

“We didn’t win the Sam Maguire and you know the way that’s going to be looked at in the south-west.

“I enjoyed the year, I enjoyed working with the lads. I couldn’t have asked for more from the group: the respect they gave us, how they responded as a group the minute we came in. Nothing was questioned, everything was done, and it was phenomenal.

Declan O’Sullivan (INPHO/Ryan Byrne)

“I just had a feeling all summer that it was a year you could win an All-Ireland. I know none of ye gave us much of a chance today but we felt very differently about it. I just had a feeling all summer but I was proven wrong and we came up short.”

Fitzmaurice will be back for another shot but as talk turned to the possibility of retirements in the coming days, weeks and months, he did his best to carve out some thinking time for his elder statesmen.

“Today’s not a day to be making decisions. I think the lads should reflect.

“As I said this time last year when I took the job, I didn’t think there was any of them that had to retire purely based on the fact that their body was gone over the hill or they felt that they couldn’t contribute.

“Whether fellas into their mid-thirties can give the kind of necessary sacrifices that they gave this year, that’s a personal decision for them, particularly the boys with young families. It’s a very demanding schedule that the boys have now so that’s a decision that they’ll have to make in their own time.”

“We’ll give them the time and space to do it but definitely today’s not the day to be making those decisions.”

True sportsmanship as victorious Bernard Brogan consoles Kerry’s Marc Ó’Sé

8 defining moments from ‘Game of the Decade’ as Dublin defeat Kerry