They Said It ....

June 2007

“I’m disappointed that there wasn’t a few more Armagh supporters to cheer them on. We sent 2,000 tickets back this week and a lot of our supporters let our team down today. I’m disappointed with those people who let those honest players down.”
Armagh boss Joe Kernan was hugely disappointed that just 6,000 Orchard County fans travelled to see his side’s first round Ulster encounter with Donegal

“We’re happy enough with our performance but there’s big room for improvement, there’s no question about that, and the lads know that. But it’s a relief really, first round games are notorious. You don’t really know if your lads are up for it until you’re into it. We discovered today that it was going to be a tough, hard battle.”
Cork’s Gerald McCarthy admits his side will have to improve after their first round Munster SHC win over Clare

"To come back and win… it was as good a championship win I’ve been involved in, or any win for that matter. And there was a great sense of vindication in my own coaching style. There was this notion put out that this guy is only good with underage players. I never agreed with that. Any guy who is good at underage level can succeed at senior level."
Longford manager Luke Dempsey got great joy from his county’s Leinster SFC win over Westmeath and believes it shows his detractors that he is a rounded coach

“For the coming championship, the margin of error is very tight because teams are on the one level, and there’s not much between them. I think teams went out this year to really do well in the league, and if you look at the results one team was beating the other, but then another team was beating the next one. It was going up and down, and I think that’s the way it’s going to be for the championship.”
Kilkenny’s Henry Shefflin believes this year’s hurling championship is going to go down to the wire

“We played in two All-Ireland finals in three years. I know we didn’t compete in them and were beaten badly in both of them, but when you get to All-Ireland finals it means you’re a fairly decent team and there’s no way that they have become a bad team in a couple of weeks. We were in the league final against this year and while we didn’t do well against Donegal, we’re still a decent team and I believe we’re in the top five or six teams in the country.”
Former Mayo star Liam McHale believes Mayo can certainly still challenge for honours this year despite their Connacht championship loss to Galway

“I believe we have an All-Ireland in us, I really do. I wouldn’t be playing if I didn’t.”
Cork’s James Masters is in no doubt that his side can claim the Sam Maguire