Straight off the pulse and beat of Galway’s close shave comes the positively beaming figure of Henry Shefflin.
He’s unrecognisable from the shadow of himself that stood on the sideline after his team’s withering performance against Kilkenny in the Leinster final, making amends for that the first and most important thing about getting past Cork, even as close as it was.
Saturday’s win at Semple Stadium now sets up a crack at the All-Ireland champions, a repeat of their last meeting in the 2018 final, which Limerick won by a point, to secure their first title since 1973.
After another of those one-point victories which everyone knows could have gone the other way, things will need to improve come that semi-final date on Sunday week, July 3rd; still Galway are there and that’s plenty good for now.
“We were so disappointed after our Leinster final performance, to turn on the television and watch the Munster final, my God that’s what we want to try and achieve,” said Shefflin.
“We know we are the underdogs, Limerick have a fabulous team and we saw what they did in the Munster final. But we have a chance, we are there, and we will learn a massive amount from today. We are not foolish, we are coming up against the All-Ireland champions going for three in-a-row so that’s the way it is, and that’s sport,. We love a challenge, so let’s face it.”
After Jack Grealish’s pretty freakish goal after 16 seconds Galway took the lead and never surrendered it, only they rode some luck too, especially given Cork’s repeated squandering in front of goal. That winning attitude pleased Shefflin most of all, the Galway manager admitting everyone was on a low given the nature of their defeat to Kilkenny:
“I was obviously disappointed with the Leinster final but I think they were bitterly disappointed because they felt they didn’t leave it out there and that’s all you can ask for. This is what we all do it for, a tight, tense battle like that and coming out the right side of it, it is a good feeling.
“Everyone contributed here, and that’s what you want from the team because I think that’s in the players. The way these players are responding has been brilliant. That’s why you hope they go out and give it everything they have.
“I’m just thrilled with the character the lads showed because it could have easily went against us there. In some big moments, big players stood up. I just think we just wanted to perform and leave what we had on the line, and that’s what they did.”
Cork manager Kieran Kingston had that look of regret written all over his face and for good reason. Of their 24 scoring chances in the first half, Cork converted only seven – their starting full forward line held scoreless from play and all later replaced.
“I would never criticise players for making a mistake or having a miss when they are doing the right thing,” Kingston mused. “We didn’t help ourselves in the first half, 24 shots, seven scores, our efficiency was really poor.
“But I thought our lads showed great character. They never threw in the towel. I’m proud of them for reacting that way because they could have thrown the towel in after conceding soft scores and missing scores, but they didn’t. And I’m really proud of that and they at least deserved a draw.”
Whether Kingston will return for 2023 remains to be seen: “I haven’t thought of anything. I don’t want any talk of speculation about me to take from Galway’s win or from the character our group showed in the second half which I am really proud of.”
