91Èȱ¬

Donegal midfielder Rory Kavanagh said the final whistle at Croke Park on Sunday was a surreal moment in his career.

The county picked up only their second ever All-Ireland title with a 2-11 to 13 points victory over Mayo.

Thousands are expected in Donegal Town this evening when the team returns with the Sam Maguire Cup.

Kavanagh said victory was an emotion he never thought would happen to him after a long career in the green and gold.

He spoke to 91Èȱ¬ Radio Foyle from his bed in the team hotel in Dublin, and might be in hot water closer to home.

"The wife is snoring in the background so apologies for that. As you might gather from my voice I am still a wee bit hoarse here.

"Five or six years ago when you were playing you never thought you'd reach the stage so finally to achieve it and to win an All-Ireland medal is just a fantastic feeling."

Kavanagh said he thought Donegal were full value for their win.

"We got a great start when Michael Murphy scored shortly followed by Colm McFadden's goal, it was the best start possible.

"But in fairness to Mayo they came back strongly and I suppose half-time came at a good time for us to get our heads cleared.

"We got off to a good enough start in the second half Michael Murphy kicked a couple of very important frees and that settled us and thankfully we pushed on from there."