Earley delighted to draw first blood
October 20, 2013
Paul Earley
The Irish weathered a third quarter storm from the visitors to put themselves in a very strong position to retain the Cormac McAnallen Cup.
"Really pleased with the win," the former Roscommon star is quoted as saying on gaa.ie.
"We controlled three of the four quarters. The Australians came strong in the third quarter and in their game momentum is a huge thing, we have seen it many, many times in AFL where the team gets two or three goals on the trot they can get six or seven on the trot and can really kill a game.
"I was really pleased the way our guys responded in that last quarter and finished the game really strongly."
The Test lacked intensity for the most part, and Earley attributed this to neither team having had any meaningful match practice coming into the game.
"Both teams come to a Test match without having any meaningful practice," he added.
"It's akin to going in to a Rugby World Cup or a Soccer World Cup not having played a competitive match for a year or two years and expecting to perform out of your skins at the start.
"It's going to take a while for both sides to get to the pitch of the game and the first quarter sometimes isn't good in the first Test but I think the third quarter was obviously very good for the Australians and they improved as the game went on.
"The six-pointers are huge for them and when they get one you can see them lifting and their intensity lifted as well. Our boys controlled the game for long periods and I was pleased about that. Our kicking skills were good and we may have got a few more three-pointers in the second quarter and pushed it out further but we are pleased with the way it finished."
Last night's 17,657 attendance at Kingspan Breffni Park was the lowest for an International Rules Test on Irish soil since 1987, and with the outcome of the series already effectively decided, the GAA faces a huge challenge to put bums on seats for next Saturday's second Test at Croke Park. Tweet
