What they said ... the hurling weekend in quotes

July 03, 2017

Limerick's Declan Hannon sustains a head injury during his side's All-Ireland SHC Qualifier Round 1 defeat to Kilkenny at Nowlan Park.
©INPHO/Cathal Noonan.

"We just need to not feel sorry for ourselves now and just pick ourselves up and go again."

Wexford can dwell on the disappointment of their Leinster final defeat, insisted Davy Fitzgerald.

"I thought the first half we got away from what got us here and you have to give Wexford a lot of credit for that. But at half-time, that was just the message. Go back to ourselves and try and impose ourselves."

Micheal Donoghue's half-time team talk did the trick for the Tribesmen.

"We played them earlier in the year and I suppose we owed them one. We came up here with a job to do, luckily we did it very professionally and we're looking forward to the next game now."

It's onwards and upwards for Conor Cooney and his Galway team-mates.

"That's part and parcel of it, I've said it before, it's a fickle world. My mother says empty vessels make the most noise - well Shakespeare said it, not my mother but she quotes Shakespeare! Honest to God, a plan interrupted by noise from the outside is not a plan at all."

Derek McGrath won't allow outside criticism distract him and his Deise players from the job at hand.

"We can't get 30 lads in to play a full practice game. If a lad won't commit to come into you on a Sunday morning for a training session, it is hard to get them to commit for a full year. There are some genuine reasons why lads can't commit, but there are some bull**t excuses."

Offaly manager Kevin Ryan questioned the commitment of some players to the Faithful County cause.

"Look, we came here to win, there's no other prize on offer bar a place in the bowl on Monday morning. That's mission accomplished but loads to do. Some of the performances were below par and when performances are below par, you open the door to competition. A healthy thing, as far as I'm concerned."

Tipp boss Michael Ryan issued a warning to his under performing All-Ireland champions.

"As long as we don't spend the rest of our lives talking about today, and congratulating ourselves about today."

Westmeath can learn a lot from their gutsy display against the Premier County, according to manager Michael Ryan, provided they keep their feet on the ground.

"We're going into a different league next weekend. All in all, we were very disappointed in our performance against Galway. So we were looking to bounce back straight away. And once we got the home draw here in Parnell we felt we had every chance."

It's Liam MacCarthy holders Tipperary next up for Dublin and Ger Cunningham.

"They're a good side. They've had a difficult couple of games this year, but that will stand to them no end."

O'Moore County manager Eamonn Kelly took his hat off to the Dubs.

"It was terrific to have Michael Fennelly back at midfield, you can see what he does and how he does it. He was excellent, there was no doubt about that, he's had a tough time with injuries so hopefully be can keep going."

The fitness of Michael Fennelly is vital as Brian Cody and the Cats turn their attention to Waterford.

"If only you knew how much we've done, like the boys have dedicated the last eight months to this thing and to lose two Championship matches - one with a performance that we're not happy with and the second one with a performance that brought us so close to the line, but we just couldn't get across that line."

It has been a championship campaign to forget for John Kiely and Limerick.

"The talk in Kilkenny was that maybe we hadn't the conveyor belt coming through, but fair play to the lads who dug deep and grounded out the result."

The Kildare underage production line is running as smoothly as ever thanks to the efforts of men like minor manager Pat O'Grady.


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