O'Connor pays tribute to players

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• Listen: Jack O'Connor on Kerry's victory over Cork in the All-Ireland Senior Football Final victory over Cork at Croke Park

Manager Jack O'Connor paid tribute to the courage and character of his Kerry players following their hard fought victory over Cork at Croke Park this afternoon.

O'Connor masterminded yet another final success as the Kingdom claimed their 36th All-Ireland title with a dogged defensive display as Cork threatened to live up to their favourites' tag.

Speaking exclusively to RTÉ Sport's Marty Morrissey on The Sunday Game, a delighted O'Connor admitted: 'To recover from five down at 1-03 to 0-01 took huge courage. These fellas are great battlers. Their heart and character and everything else was questioned all year but we have great faith in these fellas.

'We've battled through many a tough day, we've had hard tough games this year, and we felt that Cork hadn't been in a battle all year and if it came down to a battle we'd have the advantage.'

Kerry failed to impress in the Qualifiers after their Munster Championship defeat to the Rebels, and O'Connor acknowledged: 'It's been a great journey, a long, rocky road. The evening that we escaped below in Tralee against Sligo by a point - with the penalty there with two or three minutes to go you wouldn't have given us much chance, but deep down we felt that if we hung in there the Lord would reward us and we turned a corner. I'm just delighted.'

He added: 'It hasn't sunk in yet. It's a great feeling out there on the pitch with Kerry men and women going wild, it's just a great feeling.'