Key performer: Keith Duggan on Cork's last line of defence whose puck-outs made him first line of attack yesterday.
As Donal Óg Cusack tried to negotiate a passage through the long, bright tunnel afterwards, someone said: "You're almost as good as Cunningham, Donal, and that's the highest compliment I can pay you."
The Cloyne man grinned and bowed his head graciously, acknowledging the spirit of the remark and the comparison to his mentor, predecessor and current Cork selector, Ger Cunningham. There have been other afternoons, in emptier corridors, when Cusack had to retreat from the field without any such ringing endorsements. As is the goalkeeper's lot, he has heard plenty of criticism over the years, some of it constructive, plenty of it vitriolic.
Yesterday Cork's last man standing did not put a foot wrong. The team that sacked Kilkenny for five goals came poaching with intent and desperation at various stages of this All-Ireland final and Cusack was not found wanting. Even at the very end, with autumn sun lighting Croke Park and Cork voices filling it, he was alive to Kevin Broderick's snap-shot through a thicket of players.
"With goalkeeping, you have good days and bad days," he gasped afterwards, leaning on his hurl. "We do work hard. I have no problem saying that. If you go out there where we were on Christmas Eve, we were there, running around the roads of Carrigtwohill with Niall McCarthy. You put in the work and hopefully it pays off on a day like today.
"But goalkeeping is a risky business and the main feeling in my head is that I am delighted to have been able to contribute to what those boys have achieved."
Cusack's friendship with Diarmuid O'Sullivan, his Cloyne full back and childhood friend, is well documented. During the whitest stages of this final, the pair were the epitome of cool, with Cusack, under ferocious pressure from the Galway forwards, at one point calmly passing back inside to O'Sullivan to launch one of his patented clearances from the Cork goalmouth.
"The Rock" rarely strays far from Cusack's square, though with Niall Healy and later Ger Farragher taking him on a tour of Croke Park, there were times when the Galway attack would get a sniff of a goal. David Tierney fancied his chances after 20 minutes but his crisply hit strike was dealt with cleanly by Cusack.
In the second half, with Galway pushing hard to close in on Cork's tantalising advantage, Cusack was equal to a Richie Murray effort. And when the defence was finally beaten, it was through Damien Hayes' follow-up.
"To be honest, I wouldn't mind if I let six in as long as Cork win. The full-back line is a pressure position because one mistake and the guy is in," said Cusack.
"Ah, it is all pressure really. I have been fortunate over the years to play with great players. And like, people know that myself and Diarmuid O'Sullivan are clubmates and we are best friends but you can guarantee that Patsy Mulcahy is every bit as much a mate to me. And Brian Murphy also in the other corner, with Wayne Sherlock to come in. We are lucky to have a defence like that."
As well as his excellent performance from open play, the other remarkable aspect of Cusack's display was the long and deliberate nature of his puck-outs, a complete contrast to the swift and frequently short restarts that had come to be regarded as a trademark of the contemporary Rebel game.
"I would frighten you if I told you how long we spent looking at those options. It was a good sign of everyone that we were prepared to change and go for it. A lot has been made about our puck-outs over the past few years and hopefully over the next few days we can sit down and have a look at the statistics and see where we are. There was obviously a change of tactic, though."
It was a bold and decisive change, in keeping with the story of Cork's inexorable progression to this second consecutive championship.
"Cork selectors are magnificent, they aren't just selectors, they all have their jobs to do and the amount of time they put in watching tapes and discussing it with us is immense. And the amount of time we spent being critical of ourselves since the semi-final - like, we are not afraid to change, we are not saying that our way is always the right way so I would give great credit to the backroom team for that.
"See, teams see how opposition teams line up against us and we have to do something to try and break that. "
Cusack threw his eyes to heaven at the inevitable mention of what was delicately phrased as "the next phase": Cork's bid for a three-in a-row.
"The next phase. Yeah. We will think about that next week. But once we go at it, we will go back at it 110 per cent."
And you can tell he means it. As one of the instigators and chief negotiators during the famous Cork players' strike of three years ago, Cusack has responded to the new regime with complete honesty and scary fortitude. It is a far cry from the conclusion of the last championship meeting between the teams in 2002, when Cork left the field in Thurles as hollow men. This time, it was Galway who felt like empty shells and Cusack winced as he thought about their plight.
"You would feel for them. Yeah, you would. I know what it is like to lose an All-Ireland final. It is a shattering, shattering experience. Because of the whole build-up over the week and it means so much to your family. But the whole thing about it is that, when you do win after losing one, it makes the winning one all the better."
Scant consolation to the young Galway team - and to the last 17 years' worth of maroon hurlers - but genuine words from one of the honest men of hurling.
