Smyth had insight into manager's half-time pep talk

JOE KERNAN had confided to his 1977 playing colleague Jimmy Smyth last week what he intended to do at half-time in yesterday's All-Ireland final to boost his players.

He made it known it would be something similar to what he had done during the interval in the semi-final against Dublin. "We spoke during the week. I wanted an insight into what way he was thinking,'' said Smyth, the '77 captain and nowadays best known as BBC Northern Ireland's match commentator.

"I knew that at half-time in the game against Dublin he kept the players a long time in the dressingroom. He produced his Armagh jersey of '77 and said to the players: 'Do you want one of these, do you want an All-Ireland final jersey?'

"Everybody wondered what the delay today was about. Joe had told me he was bringing in the runners-up plaque from the '77 final, a little silver thing.

"He said he was going to bring it in and say to the lads, 'look, this is all that we got for our efforts that year, is this what you want?'

"To come out in the second half and restrict Kerry to three points, overcome the disappointment of a penalty miss and score a goal against all the odds was unbelievable. If you ask how they did it, I'd say it was pure heart.''

Smyth said he wasn't surprised when the Armagh fans broke on to the pitch after the final whistle He had last week more or less predicted what would happen if the Ulster champions won.

"I wasn't advocating it, but I said I wouldn't like to be a steward who would try and keep the supporters off the field. This is what it means in Armagh. I was talking to man from Derry this morning and he described Armagh as a county of Gaelic culture.

He credited the 'two Brians' joint managers Brian McAlinden and Brian Canavan for their huge input into the team over the last five years.

"Joe was the one who put the finishing touches to it. He is the man who will take the credit and naturally so. But, he would be the first to admit that he inherited a brilliant side, a side that had been disappointed so many times."