Cróna Esler

My favourite Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh quotes: "Seán Óg Ó hAilpín. His father's from Fermanagh. His mother's from Fiji. Neither a hurling stronghold." "The stopwatch has stopped. It’s up to God and the referee now. The referee is Pat Horan. God is God." "Teddy McCarthy to John McCarthy, no relation. John McCarthy to Teddy McCarthy, still no relation." "Anthony Lynch, the Cork corner-back, will be the last person to let you down. His people are undertakers." "1.5 to 0.8 - well, from Lapland to the Antarctic, that’s level scores in any man’s language." "I saw a few Sligo people at Mass in Gardiner Street this morning and the omens seem to be good for them. The priest was wearing the same colours as the Sligo jersey. 40 yards out on the Hogan Stand side of the field, Ciarán Whelan goes on a rampage, and it’s a goal. So much for religion!" "Pat Fox out to the 40 and grabs the sliotar. I bought a dog from his father last week. Fox turns and sprints for goal. The dog ran a great race last Tuesday in Limerick. Fox to the 21, fires a shot, it goes to the left and wide. And the dog lost as well." "He grabs the sliothar. He's on the 50. He's on the 40. He's on the 30. He's on the ground." "Colin Corkery on the 45 lets it go with the right boot. It's over the bar. This man shouldn’t be playing football. He’s made an almost Lazarus-like recovery from a heart condition. Lazarus was a great man, but he couldn’t kick points like Colin Corkery." "Pat Fox has it on his hurl and is motoring well now, but here comes Joe Rabbitte hot on his tail. I’ve seen it all now, a Rabbitte chasing a Fox around Croke Park." "He’s not a big man, he’s not a small man, he’s what you might call a handyman." "Brian Dooher is down injured. And while he is, I’ll tell you a little story. I was in Times Square in New York last week, and I was missing the Championship back home. So I approached a newsstand, and I said, 'I suppose ye wouldn’t have The Kerryman, would ya?' To which, the Egyptian behind the counter turned to me, and he said, 'Do you want the North Kerry edition or the South Kerry edition?' He had both so I bought both. And Dooher is back on his feet."

Savage work and spellbinding coverage of the last few day’s action by local papers here in Mayo. As always. Unbelievable turnaround of copy, given tight deadlines for Tuesday publication day. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼