Proud Galvin fuelled by Kingdom critics

Paul Galvin says Kerry's remarkable 10-point win over Tyrone was fuelled by criticism of the team.

Galvin, who won the man of the match award, was one of the Kingdom's outstanding performers in a brilliant 1-16 to 1-6 defeat of Tyrone in Killarney.

"We gave a huge performance really from start to finish," he said on TV3.

"What do you say about this Kerry team? It's hard to know what to say about those lads, they're great men.

"We were put to the pin of our collars but a lot of the talk during the week, writing this team off, served only to fuel great men in that dressing room."

Asked if he had been wounded by the criticism after Kerry lost to Cork in the Munster final and then struggled past Westmeath in Round 2, Galvin responded: "It hurt us, yeah. Of course it did and we have been carrying that hurt for the last eight or 10 years.

"(I'm) just very proud of Kerry today."

Asked if it meant a lot to beat Tyrone after a succession of high-profile defeats to Mickey Harte's side, he said: "It means a lot because of the pressure that was put in ourselves. We're Kerry at the end of the day.

"We suffered a few heavy defeats and a few last-minute defeats and there has been a lot written about this team. I think a lot of it has been disrespectful.

"I think today the great men in that dressing room stood up and were strong and I am very proud of that."