GER LOUGHNANE lounged against the wall in the tunnel of the Gaelic Grounds, a stadium he has been visiting for more years than he would probably care to remember.
He has presided over quite a few debuts in his managerial career and some of those turned out to have glorious careers. His decision to play Joe Canning from the start of this match proved well judged. The Portumna youngster looked assured from the beginning and Loughnane grinned and shook his head when he considered the temperament of the new arrival.
"It was like he was playing a challenge match for Portumna. He never gets ruffled. The first few balls didn't work out for him and he didn't get ruffled and then he lays off the ball. People look at what he scores but it is what he does off the ball, his work-rate and how he brings others into the game: they are also characteristics that people underestimate and he brought all those to bear today."
After the frustrations of last season, Galway's opening half did much to advertise their promise ahead of this year's championship. Some of the scores were spellbinding, with Canning's flick to Iarla Tannian for the opening goal drawing gasps from the crowd.
The abiding memory, however, may well be of Cork's resilience, craft and maturity as they set about erasing the score difference Galway had posted in the first half. For a brief period, it seemed as if the Corkmen could be in for such a roasting that they might have wished they had stayed out of the league after all. But their response was admirable and it drew flowing praise from Loughnane.
"Cork will be some force in the championship this year. They will be some team. You often go through league games and most of them are bland enough and then you come and get a game like that today. If you wrote away for it, you couldn't get a better examination than we got from Cork there today. I thought Cork were magnificent in all the modern aspects of the game - their support play, their physicality, in the way that they kept taking points even when they were 12 points down. They kept narrowing the gap.
"So in one way we are leaving here disappointed that we let Cork back in. But the other side is: what good is winning by 10 points? Isn't it a lot better to get a lesson from Cork today and still be in the league final?"
After signing autographs, Joe Canning paused to give his first impression of the senior game.
"The speed of the game is a lot faster than I am used to. It is a lot different to club and minor and under-21. It is all right in training but it is different in a game. You can't settle out on the pitch anyway, you are always on your toes and thinking for the next ball.
"I don't know if we slacked off but fair play to Cork, they took their scores and got a lot from out the field with the wind at their backs. They are known for the half-back line and midfield scoring points from a long ways out to and that is what happened today. It was a good start to my career. But I have never lost a competitive game to a Cork side and the trend continued today, lucky enough."
