“We are here to win All-Irelands.”
It was one of the first things Pádraic Joyce said when he took over as Galway football manager, and on a day when few it seemed gave them much of a chance of beating Kerry he came sensationally close.
Only a few things denied them in the end – some wayward shooting late on by Galway – only for Joyce one of the turning points was the free awarded against John Daly and to Killian Spillane with three minutes of normal time remaining, deftly struck between the posts by David Clifford despite the crazy angle, putting Kerry a point clear.
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“To me, the most important and crucial part of the game is how they got a free when the game was 16 points apiece, I couldn’t get over it,” says Joyce.
“From where I was standing, it looked to be like Damien Comer was pushed in the back and it should have been a free out, and then he gave a free against John Daly for apparently holding his [Killian Spillane’s] hand.
“John Daly had the ball in his hand, trying to get out. The reason his hand was up high was to stop the Kerry fella’s hand from going around his neck, which is what happened. Can’t get over it.”
It was a “two-point” swing, he reckoned, hard to come back from at that point in the game: “It was huge, it was massive.
“Look it, I can’t fault our players out there. To a man, they were exceptional. It was a bitter lesson for us. We are very disappointed. There is nobody in that dressingroom happy we lost by a few points. We came up to win the Sam Maguire and we didn’t. We are just gutted.
“I thought we played very, very well. Played football to try and win the game, went in at half-time ahead, 8-7 I think. Credit has to go to our defence, Liam Silke was outstanding at centre-back, kept Sean O’Shea very, very quiet. Jack Glynn was immense on Paudie Clifford.
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“We had a foothold in the game. I know we lost a few kick-outs and stuff, but we fought our way into the game. Shane Walsh was outstanding up front, kicked some great scores. In at half-time, 8-7, came out after the break I think Kerry came at us, went a couple of points up. We came back.
“But those frees are like tap-overs for the likes of Clifford. It was a two-point swing for us, we had the momentum at that stage. I said to the players, to a man, I am really proud of them from where we have come from, where we were to where we are now as a group.
“The dressingroom in there is really hurting and I know everyone in the room, nobody gave us a chance in the match. But look it, we knew we had a great chance and bitterly disappointed that we had come so close.”
Thanks in no small part to Shane Walsh, arguably the greatest ever display in a final by a player on the losing team.
“He was good, he was exceptional, in fairness to him. He kicked nine points, left foot and right foot, he was really, really good. We probably should have got a little bit more ball to him towards the end of the game, but he was exceptional. I know he was questioned about not scoring from play the last couple of games, but he played to a system and a game plan that we had.”
