Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!

"The first half was even, the second half was even worse."
- Pat Spillane

"Its all over... Jeeeesus! The cigarettes are being lit here in the commentary box,. the lads are getting anxious, its a line ball down there to Clare and who's to take it? Will ye put 'em out lads ye'll feckin' choke me."
- Matthew McMahon, Clare FM, Munster Final 95.

"Is the ref going to finally blow his whistle? ...No, he's going to blow his shaggin' nose!"
- Radio Kilkenny, Kilkenny v Wexford National League match

"My only consolation was that I held Tomas Mannion (Galway's corner back) scoreless."
- Joe Brolly recalls a dire performance against Galway

"It wasn't your fault. It was the feckin' eejits that picked ya."
- Anonymous fan, giving some faint praise to a player

"Sheep in a heap."
- Michael 'Babs' Keating's verdict on his Offaly team

"That referee must have no wipers on his glasses!"
- Eddie Moroney, from his legendary 1992 commentary of Aherlow's U21 Tipperary county win

"I don't want to be biased, but what was the referee at there?"
- Sean Walsh, of Galway bay FM

"The stopwatch has stopped. It's up to God and the referee now. The referee is Pat Horan. God is God."
- Micheal O' Muircheartaigh [1]

"He can take the ball from one end of the field to the other with just the player's occupations."
- Jack O'Shea, on Michael O'Muircheartaigh's unique style [1]

"The men of Ireland were hurling when the gods of Greece were young."
- PJ Devlin (c.1924) [1]

"There won't be a cow milked in Clare tonight."
- Marty Morrissey after Clare's 1992 Munster Championship victory [1]

"There won't be a cow milked in Finglas tonight."
- Keith Barr, after Erin's Isle 1998 All-Ireland Club semi win [1]

"If Offaly win the National League again this year it will be the greatest accident since the Titanic."
- Paul O'Kelly of Offaly [1]

"I find it hard to see how my northern cousins could get so worked up about counties created by British imperialists."
- Colm O'Rourke, speaking on Ulster TV [1]

"Did you have to explain to the English what hurling was about?"
"No, but I have to explain it to the people of Wicklow."
- Des Cahill and Dara Briain, former Wicklow hurler [1]

"Any word of the (Clogherhead) Dreadnoughts Sean? Will they ever take on the Man-O-War?"
- Sean Og O Ceallachain, quoting reactions to his radio club result broadcasts [1]

"The difference between winning a club and a county All-Ireland is when you get a slap on the back after the match, you actually know the person when you turn around."
- Thomas Meehan of Caltra [1]

"A fan is someone who, if you have made an idiot of yourself on the pitch, doesn't think you've done a permanent job."
- Jack Lynch [1]

"The International Rules series was a bit like the Vietnam War. Nobody at home cared about it, but everyone involved sure did."
- Leigh Matthews, the Australian coach [1]

"And Tom Chesty breaks through with Kilkenny defenders falling around him like dying wasps."
- Micheal O'Hehir [1]

"Paidi O'Se is buttoned up like the most devout girl in the Amish community when it came to the pre-final interview."
- Tom Humphries [1]

"There is a level of politics in hurling. I don't think Henry Kissinger would have lasted a week on the Munster council."
- Ger Loughnane [1]

"In the dust of defeat as well as in the laurel of victory, there is glory to be found."
- JJ Meagher [1]

They were playing automatic football. When one Cross player won the ball another half-dozen began to set themselves up for participation in any one of several possible scenarios.
- Eugene McGee, "The Irish Independent" [1]

The miracle of the GAA is that it works so well despite itself. Paranoia, self-doubt, trenchant conservatism, fear of outside sports and veneration of the past are all key parts of the GAA psyche. In order to love the GAA, you have to swallow these faults whole.
- Keith Duggan, "T

Group
1st Game v Fullen Gaels - 2.08 to 0.01

Team: Edmund Spruhn, Trevor Byrne, Liam Lawlor, Kevin Kennedy,
Kevin Raftery, Mick Kinnsella, Andy Coen, Brian Hardeney, Tom Drennen, Connor Deleaney (0.02), Ciaran Comerford (1.05), Stephen Forde, Martin Finn (0.1), Larry Bergin, Darren Coss.

Subs Used Donal Nevin, Billy Rickerby, Cormac Allen, David Keohe (0.1), Peter Ridge.

2nd Game v St. Mary’s, London – 1.08 to 0.02

Team: Edmund Spruhn, Trevor Byrne, Mick Kinnsella, Kevin Kennedy,
Kevin Raftery, Andy Coen, Brian Hardeney, Liam Lawlor Tom Drennen, Donal Nevin, Ciaran Comerford (0.5), David Keohe, Connor Deleaney (1.2), Stephen Forde, Darren Coss.

Subs Used Martin Finn (0.01), Dan Mulhare, Billy Rickerby, Cormac Allen, Peter Ridge

3rd Game v Hope University Liverpool – 4.12 to 0.01

Team: Edmund Spruhn, David Keohe, Mick Kinnsella, Rob Ryan,
Kevin Raftery, Andy Coen, Brian Hardeney, Liam Lawlor (0.02), Dan Mulhare, Peter Ridge, Billy Rickerby (1.01), Larry Bergin , Alan Lawlor (0.02), Ciaran Comerford (1.03),Connor Deleaney (1.03),

Subs Used Martin Finn, David O’Gorman (1.00), Cormac Allen, Peter Ridge, Sean McGrath, Colin Browne, Enda O’Flatherty, Barry O’Carroll, Trevor Byrne.

Semi Final v Dundee – 6.11 to 1.03

Team: Edmund Spruhn, Trevor Byrne, Mick Kinnsella, Kevin Kennedy,
Kevin Raftery, Andy Coen, Brian Hardeney, Liam Lawlor (0.01), Dan Mulhare, Donal Nevin (0.01), Ciaran Comerford (0.02), Billy Rickerby(0.01), Connor Deleaney (3.02), Stephen Forde(1.01), Sean McGrath (1.01).

Subs Used Martin Finn (1.01), David Keohe, Larry Bergin, Peter Ridge (0.01), Darren Coss.

Final v John Moore University Liverpool – 0.14 to 1.04

Team: Edmund Spruhn, Trevor Byrne, Mick Kinnsella, Kevin Kennedy,
Kevin Raftery, Andy Coen, Brian Hardeney, Liam Lawlor (0.02), Dan Mulhare, Donal Nevin (0.01), Ciaran Comerford (0.0 , Billy Rickerby, Connor Deleaney (0.02), Stephen Forde, Sean McGrath (0.01).

Subs Used Martin Finn, David Keohe, Larry Bergin, Peter Ridge, Darren Coss.