They came to Croke Park as complete novices but left with a glowing review from the great Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, who gave Jeff Stelling and Chris Kamara "a thousand per cent" for their commentary on Sunday's All-Ireland SFC final between Mayo and Dublin.
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The pair, best known for their roles on Sky Sports' programme Gillette Soccer Saturday, took to the Croke Park press box as part of a GAA mini-series sponsored by AIB.
They witnessed a pulsating showdown, as the Dubs lifted Sam Maguire for the third year in a row and Mayo plunged into even deeper depths of despair.
Legendary commentator Ó Muircheartaigh was impressed with the efforts of the rookies on the microphone, telling Today With Sean O'Rourke: "They were good students. Jeff came in very early in the morning. He was in Croke Park at 10.0 yesterday morning. He was making notes, he went then to do a little bit of thinking and pondering.
"Our friend Kammy was over in England. We knew he wouldn't get to Croke Park until 3.0. He was working all morning, and yet he would have jumped over a few railings to get in to Croke Park!"
Stelling, who dropped into Dublin defender Jonny Cooper's home as part of the build-up, aired his respect for a game he feels deserves to be loved the world over.
"Jonny and his family were absolutely fantastic to us," he said. "We saw him after the game and his first question was, 'how did it go for you boys?' He was more concerned with how we'd done than how he'd done!
"We told Jonny, 'you're a good looking guy, you're eloquent, you've got humour, if this was a professional sport you would be a wealthy man'. And he said, 'yeah, but that would ruin the game'. And I love that selflessness about it.
"As a game it's relatively easy to understand , to pick up. It's played at a furious pace. Yesterday's game would be a great example to anybody who wants to go and watch a game.
"It was on a knife edge all the way through. It could not have been more dramatic. If that doesn't sell the game worldwide, I don't know what would."
Kamara, who made the throw-in by the skin of his teeth, echoed those sentiments as he reflected on the 70 minutes outside his comfort zone.
"I was so worried during the week I said to Jeff, 'I've been doing my homework on this', because I knew Mícheál was going to be sat near us and I thought, 'I don't want to let him down because he's given us plenty of tips'. Jeff said, 'I haven't done any homework whatsoever, thank God you've been watching the games'.
"When we got there yesterday he had stat after stat after stat. It was like, he knew who the cab driver was - 35 years ago!
"(The sport) is amazing. To see it from grassroots level right the way up to the final was a dream."
