Kerry 1-17 Derry 1-15: Ciaran Meenagh 'in a state of shock' as Oak Leafers exit All-Ireland

Derry manager Ciaran Meenagh has admitted to being left in a "state of shock" after his side had Kerry "on the ropes" only to lose Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park.

The Ulster champions led by three at half-time and two with six minutes remaining only to succumb to a late Kerry surge.

"[It's] devastating," Meenagh told BBC Sport NI.

"I'm in a state of shock. It's hard to articulate my thoughts."

Meenagh, who replaced Rory Gallagher as Derry boss in the build-up to the Ulster final, added: "We came to win. We had a clear plan, prepared meticulously and were very confident.

"For 65-odd minutes, it looked like we were going to pull it off. It looked like Kerry were on the ropes. They were certainly on the ropes at half-time.

"At the end of the day, we scored three points in the second half and left an awful lot of scores behind us, a lot of turnovers and struggled on our own kick-out when it really counted coming down the straight.

"That's disappointing but maybe you need to have those experiences in the long run to learn from them."

Having fallen to Galway in the semi-finals last year, Derry beat Cork in the last eight to give themselves another chance of reaching the All-Ireland decider for the first time since their only triumph in 1993.

And while Gavin White immediately cancelled out Gareth McKinless' early goal, Derry produced a high-energy and attack-minded performance to lead 1-11 to 1-8 at the break.

However, despite holding Kerry scoreless for nearly 20 minutes in the middle of the second half, the Oak Leafers were unable to pull clear before letting the holders back into the game and ultimately set up a decider against Dublin on 30 July.

"Absolutely [that was the time to put the hammer down]," added Meenagh.

"After half-time Kerry really had us under the cosh but we were prepared for that. We knew our purple patch would come and it looked like every time we attacked we would score.

"We tried to create goal chances. It was about going for it at that stage but the pendulum was going to swing again and when it did, they were far more devastating in front of goals.

"It's gutting. We'd be criticised for our style of football but I don't think anyone can say we didn't come to throw the kitchen sink at Kerry and really go for it."

When asked if he wants to remain as Derry manager, Meenagh responded: "I don't even know what I'm going to do when I walk back out through that door.

"Everything's like a blur to me. I didn't envisage anything other than us preparing for an All-Ireland final and the players were the same.

"What does tonight or tomorrow hold for me? I don't know. What happens beyond that, there will be more people involved in that discussion than just me."

'We were in trouble at half-time' - O'Connor

The devastation was etched across Conor Glass' face after the game as Derry's bid to reach the All-Ireland final fell short for the second year in a row

Having watched his side come through a serious test, Jack O'Connor admitted Kerry were "in trouble" at half-time before settling their nerves by reeling off four out of the first five scores in the second half.

"It was a huge battle," said O'Connor, who is aiming to win his fifth Sam Maguire Cup in his third spell in charge of the Kingdom.

"We were in trouble at half-time and needed to hit the ground running at the start of the second half and we did that.

"We got four of the first five points and it just gave us a chance. But Derry kept coming. They were really dangerous.

"I thought it was an incredible game. For a game that was supposed to be not very attractive, I thought there was some great football in it.

"Derry put up some performance, they were even better than maybe what people thought they were."