By Cian O'Connell

Davy Fitzgerald had no complaints, the Clare boss acknowledging that Galway 'were the better team' in Sunday's All Ireland SHC quarter-final at Semple Stadium.

"They were the better team," was Fitzgerald's honest assessment. 

"I thought physically they dominated us from day one. Fair play to them. 

"We’ve nothing, but admiration for the way they played. How can you be a gutless team, a bad team, if you go to two All-Ireland finals and win a Leinster title? They had plenty of motivation to play well and they did."

Galway's controlled opening period display was crucial according to Fitzgerald. "We’d be probably disappointed with the first half," Fitzgerald admitted.

"We tried to run the ball into the net; we should have tried to get it over the bar.

"I wouldn’t be happy with the two goals we conceded. Definitely the one after half-time to put us 10 down, that was an absolute killer.

"In saying that, extremely proud of my guys. Two games lost out of 17. What they’ve done over the last few years, what they have achieved, we haven’t achieved in Clare hurling for a long time and I’m extremely proud of them."