There was a huge outpouring of emotion in Roscommon on Saturday night when over 10,000 people braved incessant rain to welcome home the county's all-conquering minor footballers.

It was after midnight when team captain David Flynn lifted the Tom Markham Cup in Roscommon town square and thanked the team management and supporters for playing their part in "our magical summer".

The replay victory over Kerry in Ennis bridged a 55-year gap since the county last won the minor title, and there was a poignant moment when the 1951 captain Barry Molloy took to the stage. "When we brought the cup home in 1951, the captain of the previous Roscommon team to win it - Bill Carlos in 1941 - presented me with this," said Molloy, brandishing a huge cap in the yellow and blue of Roscommon. "And now I am happy to hand this cap over to today's captain David Flynn."

Manager Fergie O'Donnell said the team and management had put "the last eight or nine months of our lives on hold - but it was all worth it to see the kind of happiness we witnessed in Ennis today and tonight".