DEFEAT TO MEATH brought an end to Padraic Joyce’s sixth year as Galway manager.
He scored 10 points when Galway defeated Meath to collect their last All-Ireland title in 2001 but was powerless to prevent the rampant Royals from pilfering a famous win this time.
Asked about his future, Joyce kicked to touch.
“We’ve just gone out of the Championship so I’m not going to make any rash decisions,” he said.
“We’ll sit and chat with the county board. There’s a lot of lads in there with decisions to make about next year as well, as we have as management, so we will do that in due course.
“The county board have always been very supportive of me and the players so we will sit down and get things properly organised. Whatever will be will be. There will be no statements or no rushes to be coming out with things over the next day or two anyway.”
On the game itself, Joyce said he was frustrated with a number of refereeing calls, referencing an apparent foul on Daniel O’Flaherty in the build up to Meath’s first goal, as well as the failure to allow Galway take the kick-out at the very end of the game.
But the 2022 and 2024 All-Ireland final manager said Meath deserved the win overall.
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“They won the breaking ball battle all day out in the middle of the pitch,” said Joyce of Meath. “They were very sharp inside as well. We didn’t really get enough to put them away. They hung in the game very well and congratulations to them.
We just didn’t really finish the game out, very disappointing from our side, no doubt about it. But the lads will regroup and go again.”
Meath manager Robbie Brennan pointed to the ‘genius’ of Jordan Morris after a landmark win for All-Ireland SFC semi-finalists.
Kingscourt clubman Morris came of age in a Meath jersey after an injury plagued couple of seasons, blasting 1-6 to help see off Galway and to secure his county’s place in the last four.
Morris registered Meath’s first three wides but got better as the game wore on, registering 1-5 in the second-half and 1-2 in the crucial closing eight minutes as the 2023 Tailteann Cup winners turned the screw.
“I keep saying to people, there’s a touch of genius about Jordan,” said Meath manager Brennan. “I’ve referenced before the likes of Shane Walsh for Galway, who was out there playing, and maybe Paul Mannion too having worked with these guys.
“But Jordan is absolutely in that category. He is impossible to mark at times, literally impossible to mark. At other times he might have a turnover and lose the ball but they’re what we call creative turnovers. You’re allowed to have them when you’re that type of player.
“Even at half-time, I spoke to Jordan. We were saying, ‘Keep on trying for it, keep on trying it’ because we knew what he has, that ability, and we knew it would come good for him eventually. And he showed it in the second-half there. He’s just unreal. He can’t be stopped when he’s in form like that.”
Few gave Meath a chance of pulling off a famous win beforehand and Brennan had his tongue in his cheek when he said he hoped they continue to get ‘lucky’.
“I think the Leinster final probably stood to us,” said Brennan, referencing their provincial final defeat to Louth who have since exited the Championship. “We said in the dressing-room afterwards that we’d be back here this year, in Croke Park. No matter what we had to do, we’d get back here. And we knew when we were back that this was our opportunity.
“We’re probably lucky. Is that what everyone says? We keep getting lucky? We were lucky against Dublin. We were lucky against Kerry. And I guess we were lucky again today. So we’ll see who we get in the semi now. And we’ll have to be lucky again, I suppose.”
The subsequent draw for the 12/13 July semi-finals paired Meath off with Donegal.
“If anyone has holidays booked for that weekend, please God just change them and we’ll see you again in a couple of weeks,” smiled Brennan.
Meath forward Ruairi Kinsella, another hero in green and gold, said he could almost feel the neutrals writing off his team when Galway went ahead with 10 minutes to go.
Galway reeled off 2-3 without response to lead by three at the hour, 2-12 to 1-12.
“I’d say 90% of the country wrote us off there and then,” said Kinsella. “It shows the character in the team that we did it, the belief we have, how hard we’ve worked all year. We just stayed calm, looked after the ball, and we went again. It was next ball, next ball, next ball. And we came out the right side.”
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'I'm not going to make any rash decisions' - Padraic Joyce to take stock after Galway defeat
DEFEAT TO MEATH brought an end to Padraic Joyce’s sixth year as Galway manager.
He scored 10 points when Galway defeated Meath to collect their last All-Ireland title in 2001 but was powerless to prevent the rampant Royals from pilfering a famous win this time.
Asked about his future, Joyce kicked to touch.
“We’ve just gone out of the Championship so I’m not going to make any rash decisions,” he said.
“We’ll sit and chat with the county board. There’s a lot of lads in there with decisions to make about next year as well, as we have as management, so we will do that in due course.
“The county board have always been very supportive of me and the players so we will sit down and get things properly organised. Whatever will be will be. There will be no statements or no rushes to be coming out with things over the next day or two anyway.”
On the game itself, Joyce said he was frustrated with a number of refereeing calls, referencing an apparent foul on Daniel O’Flaherty in the build up to Meath’s first goal, as well as the failure to allow Galway take the kick-out at the very end of the game.
But the 2022 and 2024 All-Ireland final manager said Meath deserved the win overall.
“They won the breaking ball battle all day out in the middle of the pitch,” said Joyce of Meath. “They were very sharp inside as well. We didn’t really get enough to put them away. They hung in the game very well and congratulations to them.
We just didn’t really finish the game out, very disappointing from our side, no doubt about it. But the lads will regroup and go again.”
Meath manager Robbie Brennan pointed to the ‘genius’ of Jordan Morris after a landmark win for All-Ireland SFC semi-finalists.
Kingscourt clubman Morris came of age in a Meath jersey after an injury plagued couple of seasons, blasting 1-6 to help see off Galway and to secure his county’s place in the last four.
Morris registered Meath’s first three wides but got better as the game wore on, registering 1-5 in the second-half and 1-2 in the crucial closing eight minutes as the 2023 Tailteann Cup winners turned the screw.
“I keep saying to people, there’s a touch of genius about Jordan,” said Meath manager Brennan. “I’ve referenced before the likes of Shane Walsh for Galway, who was out there playing, and maybe Paul Mannion too having worked with these guys.
“But Jordan is absolutely in that category. He is impossible to mark at times, literally impossible to mark. At other times he might have a turnover and lose the ball but they’re what we call creative turnovers. You’re allowed to have them when you’re that type of player.
“Even at half-time, I spoke to Jordan. We were saying, ‘Keep on trying for it, keep on trying it’ because we knew what he has, that ability, and we knew it would come good for him eventually. And he showed it in the second-half there. He’s just unreal. He can’t be stopped when he’s in form like that.”
Few gave Meath a chance of pulling off a famous win beforehand and Brennan had his tongue in his cheek when he said he hoped they continue to get ‘lucky’.
“I think the Leinster final probably stood to us,” said Brennan, referencing their provincial final defeat to Louth who have since exited the Championship. “We said in the dressing-room afterwards that we’d be back here this year, in Croke Park. No matter what we had to do, we’d get back here. And we knew when we were back that this was our opportunity.
“We’re probably lucky. Is that what everyone says? We keep getting lucky? We were lucky against Dublin. We were lucky against Kerry. And I guess we were lucky again today. So we’ll see who we get in the semi now. And we’ll have to be lucky again, I suppose.”
The subsequent draw for the 12/13 July semi-finals paired Meath off with Donegal.
“If anyone has holidays booked for that weekend, please God just change them and we’ll see you again in a couple of weeks,” smiled Brennan.
Meath forward Ruairi Kinsella, another hero in green and gold, said he could almost feel the neutrals writing off his team when Galway went ahead with 10 minutes to go.
Galway reeled off 2-3 without response to lead by three at the hour, 2-12 to 1-12.
“I’d say 90% of the country wrote us off there and then,” said Kinsella. “It shows the character in the team that we did it, the belief we have, how hard we’ve worked all year. We just stayed calm, looked after the ball, and we went again. It was next ball, next ball, next ball. And we came out the right side.”
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