This one is for Cormac McAnallen

Tyrone quotes: Never mind the first time. Obviously you can't beat winning the All-Ireland football title for the second time. Not when you're motivated in the way this Tyrone team was.

So maybe they didn't get the full credit for winning two years ago. But that only got them started. What Tyrone really wanted to do was win this one for Cormac McAnallen. His sudden death last year will never be fully comprehended, yet at least now they can feel he is finally resting in peace.

McAnallen's presence dominated the winning dressing room, he was spoken about repeatedly. For Peter Canavan, who had passed on his captaincy to his late team-mate, this victory undoubtedly meant more than 2003 - especially since he admitted it would probably be the last time.

"Yeah, sweeter than the first, and more satisfying," said Canavan, "And also more relieving. This team was criticised in some quarters after our victory in 2003, that our standard of football wasn't up to All-Ireland champions. Then we lost our great friend and captain last year. So if you're looking for sources of motivation those two stand out.

"And what a way to win an All-Ireland. Ten matches, beating the Ulster champions, the Leinster champions, the Munster champions, and also the current All-Ireland winners. So maybe those people that criticised our style of football will think otherwise now and give the county a bit of respect."

At 34, Canavan's influence on the game could be described as miraculous - except that he specialises in miracles.

When asked if he'd be back for more he just shook his head: "No, I've spent enough time on the treatment table this year. But look today is not the day to be talking like that. We've just won the All-Ireland, and we'll enjoy it."

He described his first half goal as presented to him "on a plate" by his former pupil Owen Mulligan, and then praised the whole team for the way they hit back after Kerry's second goal from Tomás Ó Sé: "Yeah, that could have spurred Kerry to go on. But our boys responded with two good scores.

"As we've shown all year, the fight in this team is tremendous. Despite some serious setbacks I think we got stronger as we went on."

Manager Mickey Harte always had a particular fondness for McAnallen, whose spirit he felt epitomised the very philosophy of this Tyrone team. He was clearly emotional when trying to express the influence his passing had on this team's victory.

"I know who they wanted this one for," he said, "and thank God they delivered it. Cormac said at 23 that he didn't want to look back on his career and not win another one. Those words stuck with this team. We just had to give him one more, and now we can say we've done it for him.

" We know that in some way we can put out hands on our hearts and say Cormac, we didn't let you down. He was our 31st man there today."

"I was never comfortable when Kerry came at us. We did get some lucky breaks and eventually broke them down, but it was still very tight for the last 10 minutes. People will be able to say that we did profit from the extra games now. None of these things are an exact science, and it took a lot of things for it to work for us this year.

"But our whole training programme was geared towards freshness, and even though we played 10 games I don't think we were a tired team. It wasn't in our bones to be tired. We did come up with the answers all of the time. And to win a final when you're pushed to the limit is the ultimate. Now that's a hell of a season."

Captain Brian Dooher was quick to pay tribute to their old Ulster rivals. "I wouldn't say that Kerry were lacking in anything. They really came at us again in the second half. But we'd still take our hats off to Armagh. They gave us the fright of our lives three times this year."

Seán Cavanagh was equally sure why Tyrone had prevailed: "We struggled and we fought and we harried from day one, and that showed out there today. I think we proved ourselves again in terms of character."