Transcript of P Spillane's analysis of Armagh's 2002 All Ireland

[Bainisteoir]

Armagh - All Ireland Champions

Armagh GAA

All-Ireland Champions 2002

What Pat Spillane and Colm O'Rourke really said!
You've heard the reports and listened to your friends paraphrasing what RTE pundits, Pat Spillane and Colm O'Rourke, said about Armagh's memorable victory over Kerry in the 2002 All Ireland Final

Now read the transcript of what they actually did say - before, during and after the game.

Armagh v Kerry
Croke Park, Dublin 2002

Before the Game

Pat Spillane (analyst): It's a bit of a clash like Man Utd against Wimbledon - the aristocrats against the dour and dogged. But Wimbledon won a Cup Final!

It's 'Beauty and The Beast', but this beast can play football damn good.

The bottom line is this: if Armagh are positive and take the game to Kerry, I'll tell you this � it's going to be very close out there.

Confidence, but not over confidence, in Kerry.

Michael Lyster (presenter): Armagh are leaving nothing short in their preparations. Colm O'Rourke, they were down here in Dublin the previous two weekends to this over in City West training at the St Mary's club going through their paces, getting familiar with the whole territory down here.

Colum O'Rourke (analyst): That's right, but generally once the whistle sounds at the beginning of a game players revert to old habits and in the end class wins out.

Kerry have skill and speed and athleticism. Armagh have to move up to something like we haven't seen before from them.

Now, I think the biggest advantage in Kerry's favour is the fear of losing. If Kerry were coming in without a fear of losing, there is a danger that they could be over confident. I don't think that that will exist now.

Armagh have been a bit put out, I think, by our criticism here in this studio, paricularly that we haven't given them full credit. Joe Kernan is a good friend of mine and he's a larger than life figure and I think that most neutrals would say it would be fantastic to see Armagh winning an All-Ireland final but we're in the business of cold, ruthless analysis of a game and that's what we're giving.

Michael Lyster (laughing): There's no doubt about that.

Colm O'Rourke: As far as we are concerned, what we have seen from Kerry has been exceptional. What we have seen from Armagh has been good enough to get this far, but they're facing a team completely different in terms of class than they've faced before. Much and all as I would like to say it would be great and I think Armagh would win, I think Kerry are clearly the better team.

Half-Time Discussion
Half-Time Score: Kerry 0-11 Armagh 0-7

Marty Morrisey: Paul Grimley, selector of the Armagh team, disappointed I'm sure that you're not a little bit closer to Kerry considering the missed penalty.

Paul Grimley: Absolutely, Marty, yea. We lost a lot of breaking ball there in the final ten, fifteen minutes of the game. We're having a lot of problems with their runners overlapping us and they are creating problems for us down the middle and down the wings as well. We'll have to deal with it. On top of that, the loss of John McEntee has been a blow to us.

Marty Morrisey: What exactly's wrong with John?

Paul Grimley: He's concussed.

Marty Morrisey: The Kerry full forward line has scored something like 8 out of the 11 points . Is that a major concern?

Paul Grimley: Well, when you are faced with a full-forward line like they have, you have to try and stop the ball getting in to them - which at the minute we're having problems in doing. We'll have to look at that when we go in here.

Marty Morrisey: Tony O'Keefe, are you pleased with the first half performance by Kerry?

Tony O'Keefe : Very pleased, in the sense that were four points up at half-time. Earlier on in the game we looked to be in a small bit of trouble, particularly at midfield. We weren't winning the break. But since we have won the ball and got it in quickly to our full forwards, we are getting the scores. But we're still in a bit of difficulty in our defence.

Of course the penalty save has been crucial so far.

Marty Morrisey: On top right down through the middle, Tony ?

Tony O'Keefe: Well, in mid-field alright. Mid-field, you know, is absolutely crucial to our game. If we keep winning the ball in midfield, I think that we might win the game.

Back in the studio.

Michael Lyster: Colm O'Rourke, I have to say that Armagh look beaten in every division of the field, including in the good looks stakes.

Colm O'Rourke: Yes, and I thought that in the end of that first half Kerry should have really pushed home their advantage because Armagh were like a wounded lion. I was surprised that Kerry didn't just move in for the kill there. A couple of goal chances would have put the game beyond reach.

Armagh have missed the penalty. They're down on their luck and down on their confidence a bit. But they're in serious trouble with their corner backs - particularly if Enda McNulty is not taken off, he'll probably be sent off. He's been fouling Cooper off the ball and Cooper probably should have had more frees.

But Armagh started very well and they were very much in the game. But since you made the point about Donal Daly, I think that's the most valid point. He dominated midfield for most of the first half. And when Dara O'Shea came into it, then he really fired on all cylinders there.

Brosnan is beating McGeeney for pace as I suspected he would - and the bit of class in the Kerry team is beginning to show.

Michael Lyster: Mind you, it started very brightly from both sides of view, Pat. Both teams scored some lovely scores early on?

Pat Spillane: Yes. It was quite an entertaining first half. I would say that, being a Kerry man.

We got some lovely long range points.

But you can see a contrast in styles. Kerry's is worked slow with more inter-passing and then they pop it out to a guy who is in support. And this is the difference.

The Armagh style of play is the long direct ball, turn and shoot. There was a tremendous point by Ronan Clarke from 45 metres out. In fairness to Armagh, they've played the game positively.

But, if there's one simple thing that stands between them - the difference between them - and that's pace. Kerry have the pace. They have the flair.

Armagh, as I said, started like that. Played very well. Played direct. Had the Kerry full-back line in trouble.

But now the Kerry full-back line have started to come to grips a little bit. They're not renowned fielders, but they're breaking the ball a bit more. The Kerry half-back line are supporting them and now Dara O'Shea is coming back as well to mop up. So they're now counteracting that direct ball.

It's been a good first half.

Michael Lyster: To come back to the point you were making, Colm O'Rourke, Kerry could be further ahead if they had got a couple of those goal chances.

Colm O'Rourke: Yes. Well, I suppose Armagh would argue that it could have been closer if they'd scored the penalty.

Michael Lyster: That's true. Yes.

Michael Lyster: Welcome back now to the second half of this All-Ireland final. Kerry are back out on the field. There's still no sign of Armagh, so obviously Paudi O'Shea has just said to the Kerry boys: 'Lads, just keep doing what you're doing.'

Pat Spillane: I can understand that Joe has an awful lot of home truths to tell. I don't think showing that runners-up medal is going to inject any much needed pace or flair, but certainly they have a lot of sorting out to do. As Colm says, they're being beaten in every department of the field. Maybe they've taken too much notice of us critics, because they're playing very, very positive. They're allowing Kerry open up the game. They're not closing it down. Everything they need to do they're not doing.

Michael Lyster: Armagh have got to get a bit of a pattern into their attack, Colm O'Rourke.

Colum O'Rourke: Yea. They were doing very well early on. They were putting all their forwards more or less to stand in the middle. Then, when they get the ball out the field, they split and it's very, very straightforward - kick it down. And they use a lot of cross field passes too which put Seamus Moynihan under pressure at the start with Ronan Clarke. And Michael McCrearty, surprisingly, has been under a good bit of pressure from Stephen McDonnell. But, as the half wore on, Kerry started to get to grips with it and Moynihan won a few balls. That rouses the team and it rouses the crowd.

I think Armagh need to score goals to win. I t looks more likely to me that Kerry will get them because the longer a game goes on the more exposed players with a lack of pace become, and there is a serious lack of pace in the Armagh backline.

Michael Lyster: Well, they're obviously giving it a good discussion at half time. We've heard Paul Grimley, one of their selectors, say that John McEntee - their centre-forward - having to go off was surely a factor too, Pat?

Pat Spillane: He's a good player. There's no doubt about it. He'd just scored a great point. He's playing in the forwards there.

The problem is in the full back line which we've highlighted all year. And the fact that they weren't really exposed up to now doesn't necessarily mean that they were proving us wrong. It's just that the oppositions' full-forward lines weren't exposing them. They're very slow.

Francie Bellew is a very ordinary club footballer, lacking in pace. I swear to God, my mother would be faster than most of those three fellows. And, jeez, she has a little bit of arthritis on the knee.

They're very ... They're very slow. They're very slow ... And that's being polite.

Michael Lyster (laughing): Has Paudi had a look at her lately?

Pat Spillane: Well, I suppose it's very difficult, I mean .. to defend against � because the ball �

As Martin pointed out, Kerry's composure on the ball is brilliant .. Slow it down. Slow it down. Look for the fellow in support. And suddenly there's a quick long ball being played into space �

Maybe Armagh are not coming out at all for the second half, Michael, I wonder?

Michael Lyster: I'm just beginning to wonder if they're bothering about the second half. They're maybe listening to this analysis in the dressing room just to see �

Colm O'Rourke: I think they need to be bringing on a couple of players � certainly with quick foot. The danger for Kerry is that if Kerry sit back. We've always talked in the past about Armagh sitting back. You can't sit back on this pitch because the place is too big. It's too wide. Players with pace will exploit it.

You saw Gerry Adams in the crowd there with his orange colours .. Surprise, surprise .. He could have told the Armagh back line: 'Your problems haven't gone away you know.'

There's no doubt about that. I think that the longer this game goes on, the worse the problems are going to be for Armagh - unless they can get a couple of goals. And Kerry have always looked a bit dodgy, you know, in that department .

Michael Lyster: Gerry Adams is probably saying to himself that his chances of wearing the Antrim colours here in an All-Ireland final are slim enough, I suppose, at the moment. So, he'll certainly wear the Armagh colours. He's supporting, of course, the Northern team.

Full-Time Discussion
Full-Time Score: Armagh 1-14 Kerry 0-14

Colm O'Rourke: It was a victory for pure heart and guts and determination over a team which was technically more accomplished. But Kerry had a soft centre and in the end they were punished for it. A lot of their top players just went out of it totally in the second half.

At one stage in the second half you would have to say that Armagh's chances were gone, but Kerry sat back and what happened in the second half was that they were wiped out completely around the middle of the field. They only scored one point and the top players of Armagh just threw caution to the wind and certainly pushed forward and pushed forward and in the end should have won the game by a bit more.

I have to say I'm glad I was wrong, glad I was wrong. Because, when you'd see those scenes out there, they're just fantastic. I know that Kerry is a great sporting county and they certainly won't begrudge Armagh their first title.

Michael Lyster: They certainly won't. Pat Spillane, being down in the old county (Kerry) last week, I know a lot of people said to me that if Armagh weren't playing Kerry in the final they'd love to see them win it.

Pat Spillane: Absolutely. We've had 32 great Sundays in Croke Park � 32 successes in All-Ireland Finals. We certainly wouldn't � No one would begrudge Armagh victory. And, as Colum said, the scenes out there were magnificent. I'll say this � that it was a victory that they deserved.

There was no fluke about it. The better team won on the day. And, you know, it's not in any manual. It's not in any coaching book at all: appetite, hunger, will-to-win. The team who wanted it most won the game today and that was Armagh.

We'll be slagged off for our analysis at half-time. Our analysis at half-time was quite correct: an inept Armagh performance - a classy Kerry performance.

Whatever Joe said to them at half time he should patent it and bottle it!

Michael Lyster: He took a long time to say it to them, so obviously it was worth saying.

Pat Spillane: Absolutely! But they came out in the second half and they took the game to Kerry. They took the game by the scruff of the neck. McGeeney attacked. He wasn't playing the sweeping role any more They won the battle around the middle of the field.

But Kerry .. They started messing, d'ye know. The composure that was there in the first half was gone. The nice quick ball into the forwards was gone. The laying off the ball to a better placed colleague was gone.

They were kicking � They were aiming for shots from bad angles. They were over-elaborating. They were trying to carry the ball. They were being belted out of it. There was a short little free intercepted. They were just not at the races in the second half.

Three points in the second half! One point from play! They should have been beaten by a lot more!

Michael Lyster: But Armagh still needed the goal, Colum O'Rourke. They still needed the goal. They wouldn't have won this game without it. And it came.

Colum O'Rourke: Yes. Well, I'm going to claim it as the one thing I got right at half-time was that Armagh were going to need a goal to win. And if you were going to look for a player to get it, you'd say Oisin McConville. A brilliant finish! A brilliant finish!

And that sort of put Armagh alight, you know, because they were winning in the middle of the field. Dara O'Shea and Donal Daly went completely out of the game in the second half after dominating the first. Even Seamus Moynihan was giving the ball away with hand passes � kicking the ball up the field.

Kerry's composure just disappeared in the face of this mounting pressure, sheer heart and determination. Armagh just weren't going to surrender. And they were in the best possible position again in that they had to come from behind - because, when they're in front, they always seem to struggle and not know what to do. This time they knew there was nothing but to pour forward, and pour forward and pour forward.

Stephen McDonnell was brilliant and I'd also like to congratulate Diarmid Marsden, a fellow that we've been giving plenty of stick to here. When he really was needed in the second half, he did his job.

And fair play to Joe. Joe is a larger than life character He's a gentleman first and foremost. You know, he's battled hard with Armagh all his life. It's Armagh-orange blood that runs through his veins. He mightn't like it said about him but, you know, he's been the heart and soul of Armagh football - and for him to drag a team that's lost twice in semi-finals and who you would think never would do it � Fair play to him!

Michael Lyster: We didn't know Stephen McDonnell's point was going to be the winning point, but it turned out to be that way. It came a few minutes from the end of this game and this was it for Armagh

Pat Spillane: Stephen McDonnell ... Remember the last time Stephen McDonnell played on Michael McCarthy. It was in the 2000 semi-final and he was replaced. McDonnell was brilliant all day today. Kicked with the right. Kicked with the left. He shows well for the ball. Very, very accurate ... Three points from play.

Look � Ronan Clarke, 19 years of age, who was on Seamus Moynihan - arguably the best full-back in the game - kicked three points from play.

And Diarmid Marsden three points as well.

The full forward line destroyed the Kerry full-back line. Like I said, they deserved to win. Physically strong!

We slagged off the Armagh full-back line. Sure they're bad. Sure they're slow. But if no ball comes into the forwards, they're never going to be exposed. And nothing came into the Kerry fellas in the second half. You can't play without the ball and certainly Kerry didn't have the ball or didn't want to have the ball.

Michael Lyster: There was a lot of emotion. Jarlath Burns was in the BBC commentary box beside us. I thought he was actually going to jump out over the top �I was genuinely worried that he was going to �

Pat Spillane: He was! I mean you saw the raw, raw emotion coming out. I mean this is the years and years of coming down to Croke Park and watching the Kerrys of this world annihilating them and going up with their heads between their legs � saying "next year � next year" and there was never a next year.

So this was brilliant for them.

Do you know the man that made the biggest jump of the whole lot today at the final whistle? Tony Davis! I was very surprised as a neighbour's child to be � But anyway � We'll forgive him that � But elephants never forget!!!

[corn02]

Excellent, never saw this thread. Loved that.