They Said It ....

September 2005

Words can’t describe the feelings I have now for the lads. They were absolutely brilliant, fought right to the end. Kilkenny were absolutely brilliant too. But we weren’t going to buckle, we haven’t been buckling all year."
Conor Hayes is jubilant in the aftermath of Galway’s win over Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final

"I couldn’t watch it, to be honest. I had the head down, listening to the crowd roaring, that was all I was doing. I just couldn’t watch it at all. Three points up for the last few minutes, I just couldn’t watch it.”
Niall Healy was on the edge of his seat after being substituted as he watched Kilkenny pair down the lead that his Galway side held in the closing minutes of the teams All-Ireland semi-final

“Desperate situations call for desperate measures and we made the brave decision to take off our centre back and full forward.
Our backs were literally to the wall. Clare had outhurled and outwitted us for long periods and those two decisions were the toughest and bravest we’ve ever had to make, certainly since I became involved.”
John Allen admits that taking off Brian Corcoran and John Curran was a huge gamble during Cork’s semi-final win over Clare

“You must bear in mind that most of the criticism of referees comes from losing camps who couldn’t exactly be described as neutral. In general, I believe there’s an understanding that referees do a hard job very well.”
Frank Burke, chairman of the National Referees’ Committee, defends his members against ill informed criticism

“The GAA’s rules are now coming under scrutiny from lawyers and they need to be watertight. It seems that the flaws that have been highlighted will have to be dealt with at some type of Special Congress sooner rather than later.”
Solicitor Joe Rice, who acted on behalf of Armagh players Paul McGrane and Ciaran McKeever earlier in the summer, confirms that the GAA rule book does not presently stand up to inspection by legal sources

“I thought we could have been five or six points ahead at half-time and that probably cost us in the end.
“Every team dominates for certain periods and we were dominant in that first half, but we only went in two up. It probably told in the end.”
Clare boss Anthony Daly feels that his side’s inability to take their scores when they dominated Cork in the first half told against The Banner in the All-Ireland hurling semi-final

"They’ve been absolutely superb ambassadors for the game of hurling and for the county. They owe nobody nothing."
Brian Cody says his players’ achievements should be remembered following their exit from the race for the Liam McCarthy Cup