Cavan manager Mattie McGleenan was delighted with the dramatic late rally from his side that secured a point in their Allianz Fooball League clash against Kerry.
The hosts trailed by two as the clock ticked down at Kingspan Breffni Park but a fisted point from Joe Dillon and crucial free from substitute Seanie Johnston secured a share of the spoils and kept Cavan's hopes of staying in Division 1 alive.
"I'm proud of the boys today," McGleenan told RTÉ Sport. "They didn't give up today and that's the nature of this Cavan team.
"I thought we'd blown it with two or three minutes to go when Kerry got ahead but the character of the boys was absolutely magnificent.
"It was a huge pressure kick at the end from Seanie Johnston. That was probably his first touch coming onto the field and we needed a huge play.
"I'd be disappointed with our shot selection in the first half. We had nine or 10 wides.
"We need to improve on that but you can build on anything when you've a bit of character and steel."
Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice had no quibble with the result
"We got what we deserved today. We didn't play well enough to win the game," he admitted.
"I think you have to give an awful lot of credit to Cavan for their performance as well.
"Particularly in the first half they made it very hard for us. We had a lot of possession but they were very well set up and disciplined in how they defended.
"At the same time, there were parts of our performance that could be improved."
Kerry are unlikely to be relegated unless they suffer a heavy defeat by Tyrone in the final round next week but the Breffni men will climb above Mayo on the head-to-head if they beat already doomed Roscommon and the All-Ireland finalists lose to Donegal.
"We never make it easy for ourselves. Every year, there's always something riding on the last game," said Fitzmaurice.
"That's good as well. It makes next weekend a very competitive game, as it always would be against Tyrone in Killarney.
"They'll be looking towards a league final appearance and be anxious to get there so there'll be a lot riding on the game.
"We're still not 100 per cent safe so we have to try and get something out of it."
McGleenan will be counting on fellow Ulster men Donegal and his native Tyrone to do his side a favour.
"It's out of our hands now. All we can do is prepare for Roscommon and if we can finish with six points, we'll see what happens then," he said.
"I would love to be in Killarney and Croke Park next year in the return visits but we've control over that.
"We'll just hope that Mickey Harte and Tyrone do us a turn on the day."
