On a yellow card for appearing to slow up the play with a substitute, Brennan was slightly subdued with his remonstrations but still at a loss why the free was advanced.

“We touched it on the ground, Ross McGarry wasn't sure whose free it was, and Ross thought it was our free, and the ball was brought up 50 metres because Ross didn't give it back.

“So, I think that's probably one of those moments with the new rules where referees probably just have to take a minute, take a beat, and just say, ‘Hold on lads, a bit of confusion here.’ 

“Both sets of players thought they had a free, in our instance we thought it was a free for us, but probably just a chance to calm it down, and give Donegal a free from the spot where Martin deemed that the ball was touched on the ground.” 

Brennan didn’t see the spat that followed Murphy’s equalising free that eventually earned him, Jason McGee and Dublin’s Niall Scully and Theo Clancy black cards and ruled them out of the first half of extra-time.

“We didn't expect to get any cards. I tend to be in the dressing room first these days, so I didn't see anything that happened,” said Brennan tongue-in-cheek. “So, you just go in and get a breather as a management, and see how you can reassess for the extra-time period. But I do enjoy Martin's refereeing, he does let a lot go, and there's a good bit of consistency there. I think that particular score at the end, possibly one he may have missed, but I think he's a fine referee at the same time too.” 

Brennan felt the team learned plenty from their previous extra-time experience in the Leinster final defeat to Westmeath. They stretched as far as five points ahead on this occasion. “If you look at Leinster final this year, we looked flat out on our feet in the first 10-minute period of extra time, so psychologically, guys can go into themselves.

“This time round we obviously learned from that experience. We dominated that first 10-minute period, and the mind is a wonderful thing, but when it's going against you, you can kind of retreat, and you look more tired than you actually are.

“When you're on the other side of the scoreline going against you, or momentum going against you, it's just about being aware of that, and understanding that, and trying to get hands back on ball, and put a stamp on the game.” Brennan’s request for Parnell Park to stage the game was turned down but he could smile about it. “I mooted that. The management team, we have a good feeling for where the team is at. Look, we all started in Parnell Park. It worked for Louth when we went to Inniskeen.

“To be fair to the county board, they have other considerations to take into account and we ended up in Croke Park, and thankfully we didn’t need Croke Park. It would have been some day, though!” 

Nathan Doran is believed to have suffered an Achilles injury but Brennan wasn’t certain about the reason for captain Con O’Callaghan having to retire in the first half of extra-time.