ALL-IRELAND SFC QUARTER-FINAL KERRY v DUBLININTO THE bunker-like press conference room comes Jack O'Connor, the county manager against whom the most is said and the least is proven.

From out of south Kerry, O’Connor has turned just about every team he has ever touched into All-Ireland winners. On many Sunday mornings when he sits down to scan the papers he gets the chance to read about how lucky he has been with all those sides. If it wasn’t for good luck, he wouldn’t have no luck at all.

Yesterday he was especially blessed as his team lucked their way to a fortunate 17-point win. In the press room, when asked where such a performance had come from, he answered with good humour that the question showed how much those of us sitting in the seats knew.

But there was no hubris. The performance had come from somewhere other than the blue ether. Kerry got their match-ups right, their tactics right, timing right. “We felt we had worked very, very hard in the last five or six weeks since the Cork game and somewhere along the line we would click. No better place than here where we have the space to play our natural game.”

How many teams ever get to consider that! Croke Park is the place where Kerry play their natural game. This is the arena for which they have designed themselves. They don’t come here needing to get used to the place. They come to see what it can offer. And they came prepared by some thin times on the road. “A lot of people dismissed the qualifiers. But for those teams they approach those games like All-Ireland finals and they put us to the pins of our collar. They did us a big favour. We felt somewhere along the line there was a big game in us, thankfully it was today.

“It is a footballer’s pitch out there. You kick a ball there that normally would go out over the sideline but fellas run on to it. It is a pitch we like playing on. I think we moved the ball very well. We moved the ball quick into space and we thrived on that.”

The first half in particular will stand as one of the greatest performances ever delivered by this Kerry side. How did O’Connor rank it? “It would be hard to beat the first half in 2006 against Mayo. I thought we played fierce football that day. Coming in as underdogs, though, and the way we were, that was great stuff today.”

Had he expected more from Dublin? “We expected a big game off Dublin but we were adamant we were going to set the tempo. Dublin start off in a whirlwind and get the Hill behind them and they grow as a team from that. The warm-up in the dressingroom was all primed to us getting a fast start and keeping the heat on.”

And the lack of a response from Dublin?

“We hit them hard early on. We were 1-2 up after five minutes and Croke Park is a bad place to be when you are trying to clear your head. That kind of start, we felt if we got it, we would be sustained for a good part of the game. Our motto was not to lie back. Not to sit back. To keep at it.”

And? There is no “and”. In Kerry a fine quarter-final win is a thing to be enjoyed but it is insufficient. It is a stepping stone, a means to an end. O’Connor, the lucky man from the lucky county, knows the score. “My other motto is, one swallow doesn’t make a summer. There is ferocious competition in this squad. I had a word with a few of the subs there, I said there is a month to go for a few of them to make their case. We are not going to sit back on this. We have too much put into it. It is Meath or Mayo. They will be a big obstacle but we have worked too hard.”

Darran O’Sullivan, the side’s captain, exemplified the work-rate which Kerry brought with them yesterday. He grafted in the spaces created by others and took his scores with the minimum of fuss. He articulated the team’s dynamic on and off the field: “We have been in this position before, getting a good lead early on, and it is all about concentration. If they get a run about you and get the crowd at their back you will be in trouble. So we stuck at it.

“As players we have been together a long time. I work in the Ulster Bank and I hear new stories about us every day. They make me laugh. There are 30 fellas on the panel. People can say what they want about us but we will be back training this week and we will start again.”

Given they have been together so long was drawing Dublin the stimulus necessary to revive their interest? “There is always something special about Dublin and Kerry. It clued us in that bit extra. When we heard about it there was some excitement. Playing here in front of 80,000 fans and as much noise as you would get in an All-Ireland final.

“There is great competition on the panel. Paul O’Connor came in and chipped in with scores. I have been in the position of getting a start and delighted to get the chance last few games. I felt happy with how it went. I got tired near the end. Seán O’Sullivan came on in the end and did well. That’s how it is in the panel.”

And for Kerry? Was that as good as it gets? “That is never as good as it gets. One good performance doesn’t make your summer. Dublin are a great team, I think. Things didn’t happen for them today, like . . . few shots hit the bar or sneaked wide. We can’t read too much into it. They didn’t perform to their potential. We have to concentrate on our game. There is always room for improvement.”

Now there’s a worry.