Galway manager Pádraic Joyce celebrates following the Connacht SFC Fina. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
"For me, it was a brilliant game of football," Galway manager Padraic Joyce reflected following a compelling Connacht SFC Final.
Ultimately, Galway finished strongly kicking three of the last four points to prevail. Galway led by eight at the break before Mayo, backed by a significant breeze, thundered back.
Joyce, though, relished the combat. "The way football should be played," the Killererin clubman added.
"Both teams went out and went at it really hard. Hard hits, hard tackles, all fair, in fairness. A bit of pulling and dragging off the ball on kickouts, that is expected. Overall, it was a brilliant game of football.
"I know Mayo will rue the chances they missed at the end, but for us to eke out the result against the wind, under pressure on our kickout, eight point lead at half-time, conceded a goal straight away at the start, on the back foot, for me, I think our lads showed great character at the end."
The fact that Galway's substitutes contributed encouraged Joyce. "We got a huge impact from our lads on the bench," he added.
"We were saying it all week, the bench we have is strong enough to come in, to perform. Cian Hernon was superb.
"Peter Cooke, Cathal Sweeney worked really hard in fairness and unfortunately, I said to him there, we had to make a tactical decision with Peter to get a bigger man on the pitch.
"The other boys were going really well. Liam (Ó Conghaile) kicked a score which was great."
Joyce also acknowledged a crucial late intervention from Dylan McHugh. "Look, he is a great defender Dylan," Joyce remarked. "Again, he got forced across the pitch. Cein D’Arcy got a great block as well. Again fair play to Paddy and the officials, they kept control of the game.
"We all went mad on the line at some stages, but it just shows what it means to us to come down and win this game. Mayo are the same.
"All this talk about draws last week, both teams wanted to win a Connacht championship. That is the way it should be. That is why the provincials to me are very important."
