Jack O’Connor praised his Kerry side for showing they can win ugly.

Level at the break, the Kingdom eventually found a way to unlock a packed Derry defence and progress to an All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Armagh with five points to spare.

"We've played three or four games against teams that have sat deep," the Kerry manager told RTÉ.

"We weren't exactly coming in cold but Derry have it at another level. They have their blanket defence - that structured defence - fairly down.

"It took a pile of patience and nerve as well. We needed to hold our nerve. We went a point down early in the second half. It would be easy enough to panic and go away from the structure but we stuck at it.

"It was an energy sapping game, up and down the field. If you turned over the ball you had to run 100 metres to get back. When the opposition get 15 men inside the 45 there isn't too much space. There aren't too many gaps so you just have to work it.”

He added: "For the most part I thought we did well. We obviously turned the ball over, but we're delighted to get out of here. We knew this was going to be a huge battle, regardless of what people were saying."

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