AFTER ANOTHER WEEKEND of exciting action with the big ball which featured more standout championship clashes, Pat Spillane believes football has been the superior code so far this summer.
Speaking on The Sunday Game after re-living Cavan and Armagh’s thrilling Ulster semi-final draw in Clones, the Kerry great said gaelic football matches had trumped their hurling counterparts a month into the 2019 championship campaign.
“I think, in terms of quality, it’s the best I’ve seen in 10 or 12 years,” Spillane said. “It’s been absolutely superb. We had Cavan vs Monaghan, we had Down vs Armagh, and today we had this game — an absolutely superb contest.”
Cavan were vying for their first Ulster final spot in 18 years, while Armagh were looking to make their return to the showpiece for the first time since 2008.
"Whisper it quietly..." - Pat Spillane says the football championship is trumping the hurling #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/UVdWUmMq77
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 2, 2019
Second half introductions Cian Mackey and Stephen Murray kicked a late pair of points each to offer Cavan a lifeline, forcing extra-time at St. Tiernach’s Park where nothing could separate the sides in a pulsating affair.
“Do you know what? Whisper it quietly, the gaelic football championship this year has probably given us better quality, more entertaining more intense games than the hurling,” added Spillane, who even appreciated an attritional affair last weekend between Fermanagh and Donegal.
“Maybe I’m going soft in my old age, but I enjoyed it,” he said when probed about the clash at Brewster Park which saw Declan Bonner’s men prevail by six points.
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