Micheál Donoghue: 'You've to give them huge credit'
Galway senior hurling team manager Micheál Donoghue pictured at Croke Park. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
Galway manager Micheál Donoghue praised Limerick's classy and consistent All-Ireland SHC Final display at Croke Park.
John Kiely's decorated team were convincing winners at Croke Park with Donoghue acknowledging the vibrant victors. "First and foremost, you've to give them huge credit for their performance, and the consistency of the performance over the 70 minutes," Donoghue reflected.
At the interval, Galway trailed by five points, but Limerick pulled clear in the third quarter. "We were five down, at that stage we'd probably have taken that, hoping that we'd put in a bigger second half," Donoghue added.
"When you reflect on Limerick, the season they've had up to today, we were measuring it against lesser performances if you want to put it that way.
"Full credit to them, on the biggest day they probably gave the best performance in a long time. Full credit to John, his management team, and all of them."
Initially, Jason Rabbitte was causing Limerick a bit of bother. "For the first quarter, I thought we were okay," was Donoghue's assessment.
"We were forcing it a bit and just not playing our game as much. I still think you've to give full credit to them. They nullified it, they closed us down, and the amount of turnovers, it gave them a massive platform.
"Obviously, it's bitter today, and it's going to hurt for a few days. I've said over the last number of weeks that the younger fellas, in particular, it was important to be exposed to big games and meaningful games.
"Someone used the phrase, they learned in the fire today. It's a tough one to take. We will just soak it up, we've to go again."
