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Micheal Donoghue praises Limerick's 'desire'

Galway manager Micheal Donoghue.

Galway manager Micheal Donoghue.

By Cian O'Connell

Galway manager Micheal Donoghue paid tribute to Limerick's drive and 'desire' after the Treatymen earned promotion to Division 1A of the Allianz Hurling League.

Despite trailing by eight points against Galway at the interval, Limerick came thundering back after the restart.

What was the most disappointing aspect for Donoghue?

"That we had built up a fairly commanding lead, but as I said, I thought the intensity levels in the first-half, compared to the second-half - and they wanted it," Donoghue reflected.

"Defensively, we had a poor day in the office. Limerick created a lot of space and when the scoring opportunities came, they took them. Even in the first-half, they had a lot of wides. For us, it is another game in the bank and moving on again.

"Our targets and what we want, nothing has changed. Being in the knockout stages gives us another competitive game, We’re looking forward to it."

Galway struggled in the second period against a pumped up Limerick outfit. "No, it didn’t click for us in the second-half," Donoghue stated.

"I thought in the first-half we got into a lead when the game wasn’t massively intense. In the second-half, they upped the intensity levels. They had a lot more desire than our boys. It was as simple as that."

David Burke and Joe Canning made a welcome return to competitive action for Galway and Donoghue acknowledged that the Tribesmen late return to training was a factor in the closing stages.

"I think so," Donoghue commented. "We still have a lot in the tank. The pluses today were that Joe and Davy got game-time.

"Getting lads back on the pitch is the most important thing. The perception outside, more than ourselves, was about promotion. For us, we didn’t change the template from last year. It was about using the League to get us as close to the Championship. Nothing has changed."