Darragh Long says feeling of winning All-Ireland with Kerry is 'surreal'

Kerry Ladies co-manager Darragh Long says the feeling of winning the All-Ireland is still "surreal".

Kerry ended a 31-year All-Ireland drought for an All-Ireland title when they defeated Galway in Croke Park, after losing the previous two finals to Meath and Dublin.

With the class of 2024 now the team to be remembered, Long says there was a sense of relief when the full-time whistle blew and ended years of heartbreak.

"It is still very surreal. When you have wanted something so bad for so long, in myself and Declan's case, it has been five years with the seniors. For the likes of Louise, it is 17 years.

"When the final whistle went last week, it is very hard to describe the feeling that we had. We are on the crest of a wave, and I hope that wave never breaks.

"Internally, we never spoke about it. We had a couple of past winners with us in the last couple of weeks, but we never spoke about the gap.

"The baton has now been passed to this group of girls. The girls from 1993 can rest easy."

One of the most impressive aspects of Kerry's success was overcoming disappointment.

With much talk of how long it was since their last All-Ireland win, combined with defeat in two straight finals, to pick themselves back up again would not be an easy task for players or management.

However, once Darragh Long and Declan Quill committed themselves to another year, the team was ready to go just weeks after losing to Dublin last year.

"I said it after the game a lot of people questioned the mental toughness of this group in the lead up to the final, and we gave them the best answer possible.

"This group is exceptional. This group wanted to get back at it weeks after losing an All-Ireland final last year.

"Once we decided myself and Declan