What they said ... the weekend in quotes

August 22, 2016

Tipperary and Mayo supporters Tim and Sinead Ryan outside Croke Park before the All-Ireland SFC semi-final.
©INPHO/Tommy Grealy.

"All-Ireland semi-finals are there to be won. We all have enough experience of playing epic finals and one thing or another so we are just content with getting to the final at this moment."

Move on, nothing to see here - the result was all that mattered to Mayo boss Stephen Rochford.

"We made a promise to each other in the dressing-room that we weren't going to lie down. And they didn't lie down. Not even to the very end when they went down to 14 men. I told them to come back here again and not let this be the end."

Looking ahead to the future, Liam Kearns called on his Tipperary players to build on their fairytale journey to the last four of the Sam Maguire Cup race.

"I've been playing now for seven years. Look if I don't go now, I'll never go. It's just a pity that this is when Tipp are driving on, it's a pity we didn't do it seven years ago. I'm happy out that I was a part of it and I've no doubt that the lads inside in the dressing-room will drive it on."

Premier captain Peter Acheson won't be around in 2017 as he has plans to go travelling.

"The bunch of guys in that dressing-room are highly ambitious. They know what they want and there was never any kind of negative thoughts."

Keith Higgins and Mayo have the Sam Maguire in their sights.

"We've been in a few (finals) but we're sick of being consistent to be honest with you. I'd take one now at this stage so the next four weeks are going to be the biggest four weeks of our lives."

Andy Moran promises that they will leave no stone unturned in their final preparations.

"I'll tell you what they don't look like, they don't look like they believe they can win an All-Ireland. I agree with you totally Pat [Spillane] when you said, 'this is a team that hasn't won an All-Ireland, they should be ravenous out there'. There is Andy Moran waving up at the crowd. This is it. This is shit or bust for Mayo."

Can Mayo bridge that 55 year gap to their last All-Ireland success? Joe Brolly remains to be convinced.

"We did make it hard on ourselves towards the end by not taking those chances but that's something to work on. You always need something to work on going forward."

Stephen Joyce guided Galway's minor footballers to the Tom Markham Cup decider.

"We have a group of 32 or 33 young men in there who are absolutely heartbroken. They put in a huge amount of effort and there is a great bond between them. But today just wasn't our day."

The disappointment of missing out on an All-Ireland final place was hard to take for Donegal minor manager Shaun Paul Barrett and his players.

"We came in with one goal - Galway haven't got to an U21 final since 2011 - that was our aim, to get to the final. It was a good performance, we worked hard. Our hurling needs to come up a bit, especially as Waterford are a very strong team. We have won nothing yet. Waterford are a big ask with the seniors they've had, but sure we'll give it a go."

Galway 'man-of-the-match' Brian Molloy hit 10 points in their All-Ireland U-21 HC semi-final extra-time victory over Dublin.

"Every one of us is still disappointed after last week. At least us U21s had a chance to bring a bit of happiness back into the county and hopefully go on now and win the U21."

An All-Ireland U-21 medal would help Stephen Bennett get over the pain of their All-Ireland SHC semi-final replay exit at the hands of Kilkenny.


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