Roscommon co-manager Kevin McStay said his men were "absolutely deserving" of their first ever Allianz Football League win in Kerry on Sunday.
The Rossies suffered a painful late defeat to Monaghan in their league opener but they more than made up for it at Fitzgerald Stadium, outbattling the Kingdom on their own patch to earn a memorable victory.
"We really wanted to come down and give a big effort, a big performance and I thought we probably would have enough because we’ve a fair bit of work done," McStay, who took the reins with Fergal O'Donnell last September, told RTÉ Sport.
"We made it so hard on ourselves. I think we’re absolutely deserving of the win but made it so hard for ourselves. It’s two points now going in to the break. If you're stuck on zero you're looking up the table."
“The lads were buzzing in the dressing room," O'Donnell added. "We’re realistic, you wouldn’t want them getting carried away, but for us it’s a massive thing. We looked at Division 1 and it was all about trying to perform and being able to compete.
"For the first ten minutes we played very poorly, but in fairness I thought Cathal Cregg played really well.
"We struggled I thought before half-time and after half-time but I think when the lads realised… that Kerry weren’t going to blow them away, and with the introduction of Sean Purcell, Ronan Daly and Cathal Shine, the lads did well. Everyone that came off the bench did well."
Roscommon grew into the contest, with their confidence and belief rising just as Kerry seemed to lose interest.
Driven by the relentless work rate of Cathal Cregg, they wore down Eamonn Fitzmaurice's men, grinding out a deserved 0-14 to 1-10 victory.
Fitzmaurice rued missed opportunities by his team, and admitted their opponents displayed a clinical edge that proved decisive.
"I think we missed too many chances when we had our periods of dominance and to be fair to Roscommon they kicked great scores in both halves," he said.
"When they got their opportunities they took them and they converted them whereas we didn’t.”
