Ciaran Kilkenny sheds light on grueling physical toll of Donegal victory

If hard work was easy they would have called it something else.

Dublin sealed their place in the All-Ireland semi-finals by beating Donegal 1-15 to 1-10 at Croke Park on Saturday, setting up a mouth-watering showdown with Kerry. Despite having two players sent off in the second half, Dublin showed incredible composure and patience to see of the Ulster side. Ciaran Kilkenny's tireless shift for the Dubs was enough to earn him the Man of the Match accolade and while trying to regain his breathe, he spoke to Sky Sports about how tough the game was on him physically.

"I'm absolutely exhausted. It was exhilarating, some game of football. End to end. We knew Donegal are a savage team. Loads of savage footballers. They're unbelievable on the counter attack.Ryan McHugh, some footballer. Michael Murphy, they've a savage team." "Had everything in that game for the spectators. It was a brilliant game of football. I'm absolutely exhausted now. I have to do a few ice baths now and over the next few days and get prepared for a good game against Kerry in a few weeks time."

https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/762045336747638784 When asked exactly how the All-Ireland holders managed to break Donegal down, Kilkenny explained the key was to remain patient and composed. This isn't an easy task against a side such as Donegal and by Kilkenny's estimations, he lost around five kilos throughout the course of the match.

"It's just about being patient, I suppose, waiting for the right opportunity. If you go hell for leather at them, they're so good in the tackle that they'll just turn you over. So you just have to be patient and wait for the opportunity and hopefully you'll get a score, but it's very hard to break them down." "I really enjoyed that game of football. The weather was unbelievable. I'm exhausted now, I'd say I lost four or five kilo there, so I can just put the feet up now. I'm delighted with that."