OUR BOYS HAVE MASSIVE HEART
with the Clonlara man eventually restored to midfield as Jamie Shanahan assumed the spare man role in the rejig.
Mannion was Galway’s sweeper at the other end and mopped up well early on as the champions feasted on nervy Clare’s errors.
They assembled a nine-point lead by the 21st minute after Jonathan Glynn hit the opening goal but Galway didn’t score for the rest of the half as Clare gained a foothold.
Their wastefulness meant they were still six points in arrears, 1-9 to 0-6, at half-time and it was only after a couple of sensational individual goals from O’donnell and Duggan in the 43rd and 54th minutes that their comeback gained real traction.
But Galway, to their credit,
SHOTS FROM FREES SHOTS FROM PLAY OWN PUCKOUTS WON FREES CONCEDED WIDES SHORTS/SAVES CARDS
were always able to find a point here and there, with Joe Canning’s sideline cut straight after Duggan’s botched free late on particularly crucial.
While Galway rode their luck, ultimately they led the match from Canning’s second minute point all the way to the conclusion and showed greater nerve than their opponents when it mattered most.
But their tendency to cough up healthy leads is well established by now. It’s a pattern that started back in March when Galway were denied League promotion as Limerick came from nine points down in Salthill.
Imbued by that, they’ll be confident of depriving the champs of a much greater prize on August 19. them. He made a huge impact last week. Made a great start when he got the point but I think our boys worked hard, identified the threat, worked in numbers. They are the fine margins.”
Like the drawn game, Galway took a nine-point lead but were reeled back in by a gallant Clare outfit. Donoghue continued: “I’ve said it many a time, you’re not going to dominate a game for 70 minutes. “Testament to Clare, savage team, massive players, they took their opportunities wonderfully. Our boys showed massive heart and resilience to come back. “Those qualities are never doubted with them.”
Donoghue is hopeful of having centre-back Gearoid Mcinerney, who didn’t start yesterday, back for the final against Limerick on August 19.
“In fairness he did a lot of work. Hopefully, in two weeks’ time he won’t be too far away. He’s working really hard with the medics. We’ll do everything we can to get him on the pitch.”
Joe Canning, who hit 0-8 for Galway in the 1-17 to 2-13 win, claimed that the team’s “character was questioned” in the aftermath of the drawn game.
“People were saying we didn’t perform and stuff like that,” said Canning.
“But only being behind once in an All-ireland semi-final over two games just shows the character we have.
“We’ve a lot of leaders I suppose and we didn’t panic. I think we got the next score after that [Peter Duggan’s goal] and we did that against
Kilkenny in the Leinster final here as well.
“And we did it last weekend when Aron Shanagher got the goal to go ahead, we drew it back level again.”
Looking ahead to the final, he added: “It’s another game, that’s all. It’s an All-ireland final, two teams going at it. That’s all it is. It’s nothing extra.
“We’re not going to treat it any differently. You know it’s going to be tough. No
All-ireland is going to be won easily and I’m sure Limerick are going to be the same come two weeks’ time.”