Kerry will be thrilled and very relieved to have gone one step further than last year. The pressure was on them. A second semi-final defeat would have been very hard to take, but now this team is facing into its first All-Ireland final. For players like Maurice Fitzgerald, Stephen Stack and Seamus Moynihan, it's been a long wait.

I think the experience they gained from last year's semi-final was a key factor in winning yesterday. They were clearly determined not to repeat the same mistakes. This Cavan team, on the other hand, had not been in a semi-final before and it's possible that the pressure of the occasion, the tension, affected some of their players.

There was a contrast also in the styles of play. It was obvious from the start that Cavan were going to create as much space as possible up front, try to isolate their forwards and have them in one-on-one situations with their markers. It worked very well early on when Sean Burke and Barry O'Shea were in trouble. The Cavan players were fronting their men easily and winning possession and I felt they should have had more on the scoreboard than they actually had after the first 15 minutes. They would have had if Declan O'Keeffe hadn't made a vital save from Peter Reilly's shot. That was a key moment, because Cavan needed goals. They didn't look like a team that was going to kick points easily from play. Kerry found it easier to score. Cavan had to work hard for their scores and then they missed a lot of frees, which you cannot do at this level, especially when Maurice Fitzgerald is punishing you at the other end.

Cavan eventually got the goal they were looking for on the stroke of half-time. It was a great goal, Fintan Cahill took the pass at tremendous speed. Cavan needed to do more of that: the forward winning the ball inside and passing to a man coming through on the burst. But they didn't do it enough. Instead, they isolated the man inside but when he got possession he had no one arriving in support. They tried to go one-on-one with their individual markers but Stephen Stack, in particular, stood up brilliantly to that confrontation with Larry Reilly. He clearly won that battle. The Kerry half-back line also came out on top. We saw very little from the Cavan half-forwards, there was no penetration from them. Seamus Moynihan was very influential in the middle of the defence, he mopped up a lot of breaking ball and used it intelligently. Eamonn Breen and Liam O'Flaherty were also very strong and between the three of them they provided the platform for a lot of Kerry's good work in the second half.

Cavan's forwards were that bit smaller and lighter and in the man-to-man confrontations, the greater strength of the Kerry defenders was evident. There was some holding going on as well, trying to stop the Cavan forwards making their runs.

At times it got a bit over-physical and the Cavan forwards came out second best. Their blistering pace was obviously a concern for the Kerry defence. In attack, Kerry were that bit more direct. It was a good ploy to bring Fitzgerald out early on. He roamed to good effect. Kerry's pinpoint passing, especially to Dara O Cinneide, was an outstanding feature of the game. O Cinneide was in effect the target man and he won a tremendous amount of ball. His kicking wasn't sure but he was responsible for a lot of scores. He needed a big game, he hadn't been playing well, but he's back in form.

Maurice and Dara were Kerry's two outstanding forwards but substitutes Billy O'Shea and Michael Frank Russell, also did very well. Defensively, all the Kerry forwards impressed. They worked hard, tackled back, and harassed the Cavan backs, who overdid the short-passing in defence. Too often they passed the ball to a static colleague and the Kerry forwards robbed them and punished them.

The Kerry midfield, while not spectacular, was solid and hardworking. Dara O Se got the better of Dermot McCabe and William Kirby got an amount of work in. The Cavan diamond didn't perform. Ronan Carolan and McCabe were below par and Bernard Morris was a bit loose at centre half back. Stephen King was left to practically carry it on his own, but he gave a wholehearted performance.

One worry for Kerry is that it took them too long to put Cavan away. They should have been out of reach by the time Jason Reilly looked to have earned a penalty near the end. If he was in the square when he was fouled, a penalty should have been awarded. That could have put them right back in the game.

The other talking point concerned Brian Clarke's quick free which put Breen in for the disallowed goal. I thought Clarke's free was totally legitimate. He showed terrific speed of thought and produced something out of the ordinary but was denied his moment of glory.

Cavan have had a great year, they've won their Ulster title, and when Martin McHugh reflects on it he will see the youth of his team and how much they'll have learned from yesterday's game. They will be a better team because of it, they have a great future and can get back to Croke Park very quickly.

(In an interview with Tomas Conlon)