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21/09/02
KINGDOM TO CRACK ARMAGH SYSTEM
By Jim O'Sullivan
THE way tomorrow's Bank of
Ireland championship decider in Croke Park is being portrayed in some quarters,
favourites Kerry have the footballers and Armagh possess the players who can
stop them from winning. That may be regarded as simplistic, inferring that the
Ulster champions don't have any class, but it does reflect the conventional
wisdom that Páidí Ó Sé's team will triumph if they are allowed play their
normal game.
MIDFIELDER Ó SÉ HAS POWER TO BRING SAM BACK
TO KERRY
Once on tomorrow's game but, in the end, it will be decided
on how individual players perform on the biggest stage of all. Here we assess
both teams on a head-to-head basis.
ARMAGH CAN GRIND OUT GLORY
TOMORROW'S All-Ireland Final
isn't the David and Goliath contest many people seem to think it is. Kerry
deserve the plaudits for the way they blew away Galway and Cork, but Armagh are
a very good side who play direct football and have that precious element
experience.
20/09/02
LIFE MOVES ON FOR SPECTATOR FITZ
Martin Breheny
MAURICE Fitzgerald sends his regrets, but accepts that life
moves on, even for the greatest Kerry footballer of his generation. Many of his
myriad fans insist that his remarkable skills would still be a valuable asset
to the squad but after two uneasy seasons, he opted out last spring. He will
watch Sundays game from the stands, which will be strange for a man who gave
one of the greatest ever All-Ireland final performances in 1997 when he scored
nine of Kerry's 13 points in their win over Mayo.
FOR MORE - VISIT
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=95&si=828523&issue_id=8042
18/09/02
NO PLACE FOR KENNELLYS IN KERRY SQUAD
By Mark Gallagher
AS
expected, it is "as you were" for Armagh and Kerry ahead of Sunday's
All-Ireland showdown in Croke Park. However, the selection in Kerry is not
without its talking points, as both Kennelly brothers have been left out of the
travelling panel of 30 players.
While
Tadhg has returned from his first season with the Sydney Swans' first team and
was always an outsider to get a place on the panel, Noel, whose started the
season so promisingly in the league only for injury to cut his summer short,
has been part of every Kerry panel in the championship.
Both
teams have a familiar look about them, as they are the same teams that started
the semi-final. Andrew McCann, who was substituted at half time in the
semi-final, retains his place in the Armagh half-back line ahead of Kieran
Hughes, while in the half-forwards, Paddy McKeever, who impressed in the second
half against Dublin, keeps his place ahead of Barry O'Hagan. The two have been
tussling for the wing berth all year.
FOR MORE - VISIT
http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/sport/Full_Story/did-sgIPj9SVmdPr2.asp
17/09/02
HOGANSTAND
ALL-IRELAND PREVIEW
The Kingdom¹s natural ability
to win the day, by Randal Scally
Another hugely entertaining Bank of Ireland All-Ireland football championship
reaches its climax on Sunday when Kerry and Armagh do battle for the coveted
Sam Maguire.
Kerry are bidding to reaffirm their position as the leading power in Gaelic
football. To date, they have won a record 32 All-Ireland titles, which is 10
more than their nearest rivals Dublin. Under Páidi O Sé, they have already
captured the Sam Maguire in 1997 and 2000.
FOR
MORE - VISIT
http://www.hoganstand.com/armagh/2002arts/september/0916023.htm
COOPER CAN COPE
WITH PRESSURE, SAYS RUSSELL
By Jim O'Sullivan
MIKE FRANK RUSSELL admits to a sense of surprise that young Colm
Cooper has fared so well in his first championship season with Kerry.
And yet, it wasn't so long ago that the quietly-spoken Laune
Rangers player was a teenage sensation himself.
He was just 19 when he won the first of his two All-Ireland
senior football medals in 1997 he came on for Dara Ó Cinnéide in the final. He
had been introduced as a sub in each of the preceding games.
FOR
MORE - VISIT
http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/sport/Full_Story/did-sguJLLtKNSwdY.asp
TOAL BIDS TO CLIP
THE WINGS OF HIGH-FLYING Ó SÉ
By Mark Gallagher
WHILE Sunday brings together two teams of contrasting styles,
neither side would be in the All-Ireland final if there weren’t similarities.
Take
midfield, for example. Most people are licking their lips, anticipating the
battle between Darragh Ó Sé and Paul McGrane. Two of the best fielders in the
game duking it out may become the decisive tussle.
FOR
MORE - VISIT
http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/sport/Full_Story/did-sgIq-441CFYG6.asp
OUR GAME HASN'T
BEEN PRETTY BUT IT WORKS, SAYS MARSDEN
By Jim O'Sullivan
THREE years in a row, Armagh footballers watched from a
distance as the three teams which knocked them out of the championship race
advanced to take the All-Ireland title.
However, according to Diarmuid Marsden, the players never
lost heart. They never gave up hoping. And for him, personally, qualifying for
Sunday’s All-Ireland final marks “the culmination of 10 years of hard work”.
FOR
MORE - VISIT
http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/sport/Full_Story/did-sgiRBmp3-v2eU.asp
KINGDOM HOPE TO
LEARN ROYAL LESSON
IN the weeks prior to last year's Bank of Ireland football
final, Sean Boylan repeatedly told his players to disconnect from the euphoria which
had settled all across Meath.
A 15-point win over Kerry in the semi-final had sent the fans
into orbit from where they could see nothing except a comfortable win over
Galway in the final. It was presumption at its most dangerous and it worried
Boylan.
"We talked about it, we planned for it but you can never
be sure how a player reacts to being constantly told he is a certainty to win.
We would have been better off if we had scraped home by a point or two against
Kerry in the semi-final," he said.
FOR MORE - VISIT
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=95&si=827535&issue_id=8035
16/09/02
ARMAGH EXPECTED TO
STICK WITH WINNING FORMULA
ARMAGH boss Joe Kernan is expected to stick with a winning
formula for Sunday's Bank of Ireland All-Ireland senior football final, the
county's first since 1977.
The side is a very different one from that which lost a
semi-final replay to Kerry two years ago. Kieran McGeeney, Paul McGrane, John
McEntee, Oisín McConville and Diarmuid Marsden still represent the spine of the
team but players like wing back Aidan O'Rourke, midfielder John Toal and
teenage full-forward Ronan Clarke are new names who have established themselves
this summer.
FOR MORE - VISIT
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=95&si=827341&issue_id=8034
“It doesn't get any easier for Páidí”
Martin
Breheny – Irish Independent
PÁIDÍ
Ó SÉ leans back against the perimeter fence surrounding Fitzgerald Stadium,
Killarney and makes a surprising admission. As a veteran of 14 All-Ireland Bank
of Ireland senior football finals (three as a manager), you might expect him to
be calm and relaxed as he watches the Kerry squad ease through their routines
under John O'Keeffe's baton.
Outwardly
he is, but Páidí admits he is as nervous now as in the run-up to his first
All-Ireland final back in 1975. "Maybe even more so," he says.
"You might think it gets easier with the years but it doesn't. I played in
11 All-Ireland finals and every one of them got harder because you're always
thinking that this might be the day when you get a roasting.
FOR
MORE - VISIT
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=95&si=827345&issue_id=8034
15/09/02
“Despite all the
preparation, players generally revert to old habits”
Colm O’Rourke – Sunday Independent
“THE
home straight is in sight but for everyone involved in next Sunday's
All-Ireland final the longest week is coming up. To all intents and purposes
the training is over and major surprises in selection are unlikely so for most
players it is a question of killing time.”
06/09/02
Ó SÉ AND O’SULLIVAN SUSPENDED BUT
AVAILABLE FOR FINAL
Kerry
defenders Tom O'Sullivan and Tomás Ó Sé will be eligible to play in the
All-Ireland football final against Armagh after escaping with four-week bans
from the GAC. For more information view the Hogan
Stand article.
06/09/02
ARMAGH OVERCOME DUBLIN
Our
opponents in the Bank Of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Final, Armagh, gave a performance against Dublin in last Sunday’s Semi-final
that must surely convince everybody in Kerry that we will have a very difficult
assignment on All-Ireland Final day. They excelled in the style of football
that they play….
View Willie O’Connor’s
weekly Kerry GAA article
30/08/02
TOMÁS Ó SÉ MAY FACE SUSPENSION
An Ghaeltacht’s Tomás Ó Sé has been has been summoned to appear
before the GAA’s Games Administration Committee next week following their review
of video footage from the Kerry-Cork All-Irl semi-final. For more info view the
Hogan
Stand article.
29/08/02
SENSATIONAL, SPECTACULAR AND DELIGHTFUL
Last Sunday’s performance by our Kerry
Senior Football Team was sensational, spectacular and delightful to watch and
will be savoured for many a long day. Since they played their first game in the
qualifiers against Wicklow the team have progressed to contest the All-Ireland
Final with very purposeful and determined performances.
Their
enthusiasm, energy, stamina, skill and fluency have illustrated that they have
but one target in mind and that is the return of the Sam Maguire Cup to the
Kingdom. Moreover they are not going to be overwhelmed or diverted from their
ultimate goal by all the plaudits and superlative comments on those recent
performances.
There
is still unfinished business to be completed and in all of their after match
comments to the media on Sunday last they clearly pointed out that there is
still one more bridge to be crossed on Sunday September 22nd. “Let’s not get carried away,” sums up their
feelings.
Our supporters would do well to bear that
in mind also and actively discourage and prevent any such euphoric and
ill-founded notions that are currently in circulation in the media and
elsewhere. We have every reason to be optimistic of our chances of winning the
All-Ireland Final but that is as far as it should go. By keeping our feet
firmly on the ground we will be doing the players a great service as they begin
their preparations for the All-Ireland Final.
Let’s start the build up to the final right
away by having plenty Kerry flags and banners on display throughout the
county. We are proud of our team and
what they have achieved so far in the Bank Of Ireland Football Championship.
What better way of showing our appreciation and support than by proudly
displaying the Green and Gold in every town and village in the county. Don’t be
shy to show your colours.
View Willie O’Connor’s
weekly Kerry GAA article
