Pádraic Joyce believes the scars of battle helped Galway find their way back to another All-Ireland final. The Tribesmen, who lost the 2022 decider to Kerry, called upon their recent big-game experience to close out a tense All-Ireland semi-final against Donegal at Croke Park on Sunday.
The sides were level after 61 minutes, but the remainder of the contest played out 0-2 to no score in Galway’s favour. In fact from the 48th minute until the final whistle Donegal scored only two points.
“I think we were a more battled-hardened team coming down the stretch,” surmised Joyce. “If you look at the games we played – Mayo in the Connacht final, the Sligo game in the Connacht semi-final obviously we were in trouble but we found a way to win it, and then we have had Derry, Armagh, Westmeath, Dublin the last day.
“Whereas Donegal, the last two games, they have coasted through probably Clare and Louth easier than they would have liked.
“It showed in the game on Saturday night even, Armagh were the more battle-hardened team and they found a way to stick it out. I think that was the difference, we are probably a little bit more developed than Donegal.”
It was an assessment with which Jim McGuinness agreed.
“I suppose the summary of it will be that we converted five out of 14 in the second half, and converted 10 from 14 in the first half,” said the Donegal manager. “We ran out of steam a wee bit coming down the stretch. I think Galway looked a bit more battle-hardened than us, maybe that experience of a couple of years ago was beneficial to them.”
The Ulster champions were aiming to progress to a first All-Ireland final appearance since 2014 but this was one of their more lacklustre displays of the season.
It was an emotional day at Croke Park as a video tribute for John O’Mahony was played on the big screen beforehand. O’Mahony managed Galway to All-Ireland titles in 1998 and 2001. The Galway team stood in a V formation for the video.
“When the news came up to us last Sunday morning we were obviously heartbroken,” remarked Joyce. “Obviously we shed a tear because the man has meant so much to me personally and the Galway players – our WhatsApp group from 98-01 was hopping. Lads were really heartbroken.
“You can’t be heartbroken unless you love someone, we loved him as a man, he was a great manager, a brilliant friend, a really good mentor to me as well over the last couple of years – I’ll miss talking to him, I’ll miss his phone calls, I’ll miss his advice.”
They scored 1-14 (17) to beat Donegal in this semi-final. In the two finals Galway won under O’Mahony, they scored 1-14 in 1998 and 0-17 in 2001.
The Tribesmen also had to protect against the euphoria of beating Dublin having a negative impact on preparations for this last four clash with Donegal.
“The emotion of beating Dublin the last day, it would have been a damp squib had we lost today,” added Joyce. “We spoke a lot about that with the lads, We obviously enjoyed that Saturday night after (beating) Dublin and the lads got down to work the following morning. They did a recovery session in Blackrock and Salthill like they always do.”
For Donegal it has been a season of progress – but with Dublin and Kerry out of the Sam Maguire equation there will be a sense of a missed opportunity also. And while McGuinness was not overly critical of the referee the Donegal manager was clearly frustrated by some of the decisions during the game.
“I think there were a number today that we wouldn’t be happy with. I think in the first minute Ryan McHugh was breaking through, there were two men pulling at him, he blew him for overcarrying,” said McGuinness. “I don’t really want to go there, it is what it is.”
Joyce hopes his team captain, Seán Kelly, will be available for the final. Kelly was named to start against Donegal but failed to feature as he continues to be troubled by a hamstring injury. “He wasn’t too far away today but it’s just the nature of his injury, it’s a muscle injury, it’s hard to chance these things because you’re going into a game from zero to try and play at 90 mile an hour,” said Joyce.
After a weekend of drama the 2024 championship has thrown up a unique All-Ireland final pairing of Galway and Armagh. When the sides met in the group stages of this year’s championship Armagh staged a late recovery to earn a draw – a result that put the Orchard County top of the table and forced Galway to play a preliminary quarter-final.
In his post-match press conference on Sunday Joyce was asked if – after that game four weeks ago – he could have foreseen the two meeting in the All-Ireland final. “Well, if you ask Kieran McGeeney next week what was texted to him that night, that will answer the question for you,” smiled the Galway manager.
This, it seems, is exactly where Joyce expected his team to be right now.
