As the dust settled on Tyrone's annihilation of Munster champions Kerry, the predicted fallout from what was an ugly, foul-ridden match has had little impact on the winners' manager Mickey Harte, writes Seán Moran GAA Correspondent

Sunday represented a major achievement for last season's Errigal Ciaran coach, who has now brought the county to a National League title and All-Ireland final in the same year.

Back in 1990, there was consternation when that year's All-Ireland final generated 69 frees. But the weekend's match produced 72 fouls, a rare if not unique instance of a major championship fixture averaging more than one free a minute.

Reactions to what happened included the match being described by former All-Ireland winning managers Eugene McGee and Mick O'Dwyer as an "abomination, an insult to what Gaelic football is supposed to be at the highest level" and "the worst game of this year's championship".

Disappointment was all the more acute because expectations for the meeting of the Munster and Ulster champions were running high, given the attacking potential on display.

"It mightn't have been pretty, but I think people were naive to expect a pretty game," was Harte's reaction yesterday.

"Everyone knew that you had two of the best attacking teams in the country so what were they going to do except try and stop the opposition scoring?"

The Tyrone manager wasn't happy, but neither was he apologetic about the reaction. Just as after the match he made the point that it was more important to win rather than put on a show and to lose. For a county that had lost two All-Ireland finals and two semi-finals over the past 18 years the emphasis was on surmounting the hurdle.

"You'd be disappointed that people feel that way," he said. "I wonder how it would have been projected if ourselves and Kerry had served up the greatest spectacle of high scoring football and we lost. Then it would have been said that Tyrone are a great footballing team but they can't win. There's no use in us playing flamboyantly and losing."

But surely with the talent at his team's disposal it wouldn't have been unreasonable to hope for them to play flamboyantly and win.

"Maybe. But also never forget in a game like that that the opposition have a lot to do with how you play. If the other side is a decent side, and there's no one saying Kerry aren't, you can't play just as you choose. Look at Kerry against Roscommon in the quarter-final. They scored 1-21 and were still criticised. You really can't win."

There was no doubting Tyrone's superiority as a football team on Sunday. The impressively thorough victory was built on a surging first-quarter display that left Kerry trailing a deficit they couldn't close for the rest of the afternoon. Even Tyrone were surprised at the level of their dominance.

"I suppose it was more comprehensive than many people had thought - including maybe ourselves. We were delighted by half-time that we had achieved a decent result, that we were comfortable. We knew if we worked hard that we'd be all right."

Yet, in the much reviled second half Tyrone's tactics of defending their lead and striking on the break led to an, at times, perilously shrinking lead. And Harte admitted his concern.

"Of course I was worried when the lead was cut to four and we had only scored one point in the second half up to then. That was not totally comfortable. But my question was: were we still working hard around the field - and we were."

Finally, he dismissed the widespread criticism of the match and denied that it had in any way soured the achievement.

"I'd take that with a pinch of salt. If people want to react that way that's their business and let them write away, but we're in the final and that's what we're looking forward to."