Dessie Farrell paid tribute to his Dublin players after their narrow All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Kerry at Croke Park.
The Blues were the outsiders coming in, and were without talismatic forward Con O'Callaghan for the last four meeting, but a second-half comeback saw them push the men from the Kingdom all the way.
The Dubs were five down at the break, but Cormac Costello's goal helped to bring them back into the contest, and they were level as the game ticked over into added time.
Dublin had a chance in the extra five minutes, but Niall Scully made poor contact with the ball, and it was left to Sean O'Shea to kick the winner, into the sea of blue, at the Hill 16 end.
"We were in a sticky situation at half-time," Farrell told RTÉ's Sunday Game afterwards.
"Come out and then Kerry got the next [score] and we were six down, but I'm tremendously proud of the effort. As we know from down through the years, there are some warriors in that dressing room, but the group has changed dramatically over the last couple of years.
"All the new young players that we've brought in have bought in. So many of them wore their heart on their sleeve today, and that's all you can ask for.
"Hats off to Kerry. They're a great team, a coming team, and deserved their victory on the day."
Dessie Farrell believes the people of Dublin should be proud of their team and talks about the qualities they developed over the year after a late semi-final loss to Kerry. pic.twitter.com/Q2UNcKnWAb
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 10, 2022
Dublin kicked the first score of the game through Lee Gannon, but Kerry would equalise just 40 seconds later, and from there the Metropolitans were never ahead again.
They were really struggling in the period either side of half-time as they went a full 18 minutes without registering a score. And it might have been worse, only for Evan Comerford saving O'Shea's penalty just before the break.
The Dubs kicked some poor wides in that opening 35 minutes, as the Boys in Blue struggled to deal with a breeze that was going against them.
"It was definitely strong in the first half, the wind, it was difficult to kick into," Farrell acknowledged.
"Some of our shooters, who are experienced, were finding it difficult and kicking a couple of wides. They were good shots, the accuracy was just slightly off.
"Some of the decision making around shot taking was questionable, at times. in those situations. But I thought, by and large, they were decent shots to take."
Dublin were six down with 40 minutes on the clock, but the gap was down to one seven minutes later after Costello's well-taken major.
But it was then, according to Farrell, that the Dubs didn't show the killer instinct.
"They're always nip and tuck at that stage, the finest of margins" he continued.
"A breaking ball can make the difference, so you're hoping you get the rub of the green in those situations. When we got back into it we could have kicked on, perhaps.
"[We] took the foot off the gas a little and allowed them to re-group and gather themselves. It was toe to toe after that, and a special kick at the end by Sean O'Shea to finish the game - that's how it goes."
Looking to the future, Farrell suggested that the much-changed Dublin team can drive on over the coming years.
"Today was always going to be a massive test. It was the test of character that I was most interested in. This group stood up, they're starting to forge their own identity, their own personality.
"There's a very different dynamic [with] major changes over the last couple of years. Even this year there was something like 18 new players brought into squad.
"With the senior players there, and how they led the group, and how the young players followed, everyone in Dublin should be proud of them. The fighting spirit was there until the bitter end. Hopefully it's a platform for that team to drive on from here."
