GALWAY’S VICTORIOUS ALL-Ireland minor hurling winning boss Jeffrey Lynskey wasn’t exactly filled with confidence when he took over from Mattie Murphy last November.
The Liam Mellows clubman recalls chatting to an unnamed Galway official, who informed him that the crop he was working with wasn’t one of the better ones of recent times.
But Lynskey defied the odds on Sunday when the young Tribesmen claimed a tenth All-Ireland minor crown, and the county’s first since 2011.
After the victory over Tipp at Croke Park, Lynskey spoke with reporters and revealed a conversation that took place during the interview process last year.
“When I did the interview, I can’t name him now, he says it’s probably the worst team ever…that’s coming from an official.
“When you’re working in a teaching environment, you have to have a thick neck and you’re used to people giving you comments all the time. You use them to motivate yourself.”
Lynskey was also provided with inspiration on Saturday night when caught Sylvie Linnane’s TV contribution.
“I was listening to Sylvie on ‘Up for the Match’ the other night and he said you’re not a good manager until you win an All-Ireland,” Lynskey said.
“That struck a chord with me. The other thing I didn’t want to do was be in a losing dressing room in Croke Park. I’d say it’s an awful place to be.
“So you can either be driven on by failure or the will to win. I’m driven on by failure – I don’t want to fail.”
Lynskey will remain at the helm next year as Galway aim to retain the Irish Press Cup.
When asked about the prospect of Galway entering the Leinster championship at underage level, he replied: “I don’t think Leinster’s a runner. I think the other option is the preliminary losers in Munster and Leinster go into a group with ourselves and Ulster.
“That’s probably the runner – that’s what I’m looking for. It’s competitive games these lads need.”
Lynskey admitted that Galway were playing “Russian Roulette” in each of their four championship outings in 2015, due to the sheer knockout nature of their status in the competition.
Galway played their first game of the campaign in the All-Ireland quarter-final and defeat there would have left them with no second chance.
“Knockout hurling is great but if I lost against Limerick, I’m under huge pressure. I’ve no back door,” he said.
“Every game we played was Russian Roulette – it was knockout.”
And Lynskey admitted that the aim now for Galway is to translate underage success into elusive senior glory.
“Galway always produce good minor teams. That’s not the issue. The issue is after minor.
“A lot of it is down to the structures in our own county, getting that right, which they are doing.
“But it’s a competitive structure we need at U21. Some of those lads might only get to play three games at a competitive level at county in three years – you’re not going to develop hurlers there.”
