`I've never seen such determination'

This means something, means a lot. The high-decibel roars and shouts from the Mayo players as they escape the pitch into the tunnel under the New Stand would make ear muffs a welcome accessory and, not surprisingly, delight is etched on each and every face.

None more so than Cora Staunton's. Heroine on so many occasions, the woman with the golden boots has done it again on the big day. A personal tally of two goals, two points - and much huffing and puffing in performing other chores further outfield - means that her status as a footballing legend in the county has been further embellished.

And yet, here she is standing in the corridor outside the dressing-room with this "ah shucks, it was nothing" look and throwing praise all around her team-mates and the two managers who keep them in check. Staunton is especially keen to throw bouquets to the Mayo backs who performed heroic deeds of their own in repelling Waterford's late surge.

"Our backs did tremendous work, but, knowing them from having to mark them in training, I know that they're the best backs in the country. They're all class, every single one of them and it is brilliant, personally and for the whole panel, to win this one, to win back-to-back All-Irelands," said Staunton.

"And what about our two managers? Finbarr (Egan) and Jonathan (Mullin) know everything about Gaelic football, just can't beat them." As for the decisive third goal, Staunton observes that "they all count", even if she was a mite surprised herself when it actually hit the back of the net.

Diane O'Hora had the closest view to it and had to tell Staunton that it was a goal, not a point. "I immediately saw the umpire point down and then tell the other umpire," recalled the Mayo corner-forward. "I think the Waterford goalkeeper believed it was going wide, or over the bar, and she was very surprised that it was a goal."

O'Hora was another forward who was keen to praise the work of the Mayo backs. "I've never seen such determination and strength in all my life. They were fantastic," she insisted.

Jonathan Mullin, one part of the Mayo management duo, was - naturally enough - full of praise for his charges. "If you picked two games in the last 12 months we started well, they'd be the two All-Ireland finals, which is an indication of the focus and concentration that the players give to the game.

"They're an unbelievable group of players. As a team, they're much more mature than a year ago, physically stronger and a year older."

While all associated with Mayo were riding on the crest of a wave, the mood in the Waterford camp was a good deal more sombre. "We're absolutely devastated . . . we've put in 78 training sessions this year and have nothing to show for it at the end of it," said Waterford manager Michael Ryan. "Mayo got the breaks and took them, they showed what they were made of. Any team that wins two All-Irelands in a row is a great team . . . but I'm very proud of my team, they fought tooth and nail.

"The only disappointment I have is that we didn't go for points when we should have taken them. We had a few missed chances, times when we took one pass too many." "We really needed to go five or six points up in the game if we were to kill them off, but they never allowed us."