Pillar finds his voice in role reversal

Leinster SFC Final: Blood from a stone. That is usually the most apt description of a post-match interview with Paul Caffrey. Even in victory. Kevin Kilmurray, on the other hand, is normally a reporter's dream when deadlines loom. The roles were reversed yesterday evening.

But let's start with the devastated Offaly captain, Karol Slattery. He voiced the widespread surprise with the decision to award the Leinster football final to a Sligo referee whose CV, according to the programme, peaked with a Connacht club final and some low-intensity championship action. The leap from Fermanagh v Antrim in Enniskillen last May, with a qualifier between Monaghan and Wicklow in the interim, to 81,754 screaming Dubs in high summer was a lot to ask of Marty Duffy.

"The best team on the day won," said Slattery. "The referee was very nervous, a bit like ourselves, and it was a new experience for him. I think the GAA should think about that. Not being sore losers but I think we spent so much time training all we want is consistency. But fair play to Dublin, they are a very strong team."

The dismissal of Alan McNamee for a second yellow card seemed to particularly irk Slattery.

"Going down to 14 men in that sweltering heat - we're amateurs at the end of the day - a key decision."

A cagy Kilmurray seemed to finally lose his patience with some journalists after revelling in the public glare in the run-up to yesterday. For example, he refused to comment on the Stephen Cluxton yellow card until he had watched the video. On the McNamee dismissal he stated: "I still don't know what happened. I'd say there is a little bit of gamesmanship there but I'll check it out. Very hard to find positives in a game like that. We were comprehensively beaten in the end. We had to have 15 very, very fit and good players. The second half was nip and tuck and I suppose the referee took his hand."

So were you disappointed with some of his decisions?

"I'm sure there are plenty of experts. I know all your faces in the paper so I'll be interested to see what your comments are. I can't say."

Clearly, Kilmurray didn't mask his disappointment. He also refused to seek mitigation, even the old reliable cliché that a team needed to feel the pang of defeat to move on.

"No, we want to go out and win every game. Learning about football is not that simple. Dublin and Laois have good squads. They are going to be there next year. Fate isn't like that. Not in GAA anyway. I wish it was."

Then to Pillar. The answers are usually so curt people are almost afraid to ask the questions. A brave man steps forward: Was the first half down to nerves, Pillar?

"No. I'd have a little bit more respect for the dressingroom than to say nerves. A lot of these fellas have (played) a lot of football. A lot of days here. Some days your shooting boots are on you and some days it takes a while to find them.

"The first half wasn't a great display of football from Dublin. Six points was a poor return for the amount of ball we had. But again, credit should be given to Offaly. We said all along they would be up for this game. They were and they tore into us."

Midfield dominance? "Pleasing."

Are Dublin getting stronger? "Maturing." Sending off? "No bearing in the modern game."

As the Leinster champions filed silently on to the team coach, Caffrey told us the bottom line: "Longford is a long time ago. Every match is different. The good thing about these guys is they are learning to win.

"The bottom line is every year Dublin need to be winning trophies and that goes at all age groups. It's a pity we couldn't have had our minors here today as it's a great learning curve to be here in front of that crowd and getting a taste for it.

"I'm a big Dublin supporter and any year we don't get some silverware is disappointing. So that respect, yeah, it is important."