Dublin manager Dessie Farrell acknowledged his side's one-point loss to Kerry in today's All-Ireland semi-final was a "bitter pill" but stressed his pride in the team after their second half rally.
And he didn't dwell on the absence of the "special" Con O'Callaghan, noting that Dublin had resolved during the week that they would have no excuses, observing simply that "you get to play 15 and you can bring on five."
Trailing by five after 45 minutes, Dublin surged into the contest after Cormac Costello's brilliantly seized goal, sparking a grandstand finale.
With Ciaran Kilkenny and James McCarthy both central in the driving finish, Farrell's side appeared to have the momentum but Seanie O'Shea's stunning 76th minute free heaved Kerry over the line for their first win in the fixture since 2009.
"That's the nature of it. We've no excuses," said Farrell afterwards.
"We just came up shy on the day and it’s a bitter pill to swallow. I’m gutted for the lads inside there. They died with their boots on.
"We were in a sticky situation at half-time. Immediately after half-time, we went six down and it wasn’t looking good at that point. But we rallied, and they threw everything at it. I’m very proud of them in general."
Kerry boss Jack O'Connor had, understandably, began to prepare for extra-time and Farrell was of the same mind.
"Yeah, so was I. I was starting to go into overdrive in terms of what we needed to do and we’d a plan in place for it anyway. But a plan is all well and good until you get punched in the nose as Mike Tyson said.
"It was just an immense kick (from O'Shea). That breeze was difficult to kick into. I don’t know whether it died a little in the second-half, but it was a touch of class.
"The foul, I think it probably was a foul to be fair. I didn’t see it. But just from the side-line, it looked to be. You were probably saying to yourself, into that breeze, the distance it is, this will probably go to extra-time."
The speculation around O'Callaghan's absence was the chief talking point in advance of the game, the Cuala superstar ultimately failing to recover in time to make the match-day 26.
"Lookit, Con is special, we all know that. But we discussed it during the week. We were either going to be good enough, or we were not going to be good enough.
"And that's the way we approached it. You get to play 15, you get to bring on five.
"It’s us and them, and let’s see where the cards fall. And we came out the wrong side of that unfortunately."
While Farrell has been forced, through turnover and necessity, to blood a new batch of players, several of their veteran stars were conspicuous in the late surge, in particular Kilkenny, who notched three points.
The Dubs boss hopes that his experienced heads aren't inclined to call it a day after this disappointment.
"They were going strong at the end. Some of that crew have a lot of miles on the clock and have given the most immense service to Dublin football.
"But I’d be hoping for Dublin football that they, James in particular stays around because the group dynamic has changed demonstrably over the, even the last year, but definitely the last number of years. A lot of young players, new players, many of them got game time today.
"Those players need the likes of James McCarthy and the Jonny Coopers and those lads to stay around and lead the way, because they follow brilliantly, to be fair to those young lads.
"And having that type of leadership at the helm is really important. So I’d be hoping that that crew have more to give."
