AFTER WATCHING GALWAY seal a return to their first All-Ireland final in 21 years, Padraic Joyce insisted it’s no good getting there unless they take home the silverware.
Joyce was in his heyday as a player the last time Galway played in the decider back in 2001, when they defeated Meath to lift the Sam Maguire.
Since taking over he was bullish on where the Tribesmen needed to go. Now they stand 70 minutes away from achieving that feat.
“I said it from day one when I got the job, it is about winning the All-Ireland,” he said.
“It has taken us three years to get here. We’re here now so we are definitely going to make the most of it.
“There’d be a soft kinda belly seen in Galway, that until we actually go and win these big games in Croke Park that tag is going to follow you around.
“So after winning that [Armagh] game and the way we won it, being six up, letting them back into it, and the row, normally gone by we might have folded a bit, but we took a lot of solace from that.
“We performed really well in extra time, we had great coolness in the penalties. The biggest thing for us was trying to get lads mentally back up for today.
“We have to become a team that performs in Croke Park day in day out, and I think we have done it to a degree this year, so if we keep doing that all the time, people might start talking a bit more freely about us.”
Joyce wore the number 14 the last time they reached in a final and he had his full-forward to thank for their win over Derry here. Damien Comer’s 2-2 haul drove Galway to a five-point victory.
“It was a great finish,” Joyce said of his second goal.
“People might say he hadn’t much to do, but Derry are obviously pushing trying to get a score and we caught them on the counter. Damien finished it well from 35, 40 yards. But all through, he was very, very good for us.
“That’s what you want; in big games, your leaders like Damien and Shane and Paul and Sean Kelly to stand up. They were excellent.”
Incidentally, in each of their last three occasions getting to the final Galway overcame Derry in the last four.
Rory Gallagher’s team set-up defensively and the Connacht champions required patience to break them down.
“There is a sign in the dressing room going out the (dressing room) door saying ‘find a way’. You have to find a way – whatever goes on. You are not always going to win a game by kicking 2-19 or 2-20, the most pleasing part is the lads did find a way.
“They eked it out, they put the shoulder to the wheel, worked really, really hard. They took the hits, they gave the hits, I think they completely snuffed Derry out. I think Derry are a brilliant side, they have had a fantastic year. Rory has the lads in great shape. In fairness we held them to (1-6) which is a tremendous achievement by us.
“Semi-finals are for winning, it mightn’t be pretty at times. We have won it and we have a final to look forward to in two weeks time. We are going to enjoy tonight, we are going to enjoy the build up for the next two weeks, we are going to give one helluva performance here in two weeks time.”
Of the Hawk-Eye controversy that saw a legitimate Shane Walsh 45 chalked off before it was reinstated during half-time, Joyce said: “At the time the kick was taken, I thought it was over the bar. I couldn’t believe it. They came in and rectified it.
“Technology is human too, maybe.”
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