Like everyone here, I'm absolutely delighted with today's result. We played well, worked hard, forced Galway into mistakes, kept their main players quiet and finished the game off, despite the best efforts of the ref.
I've been understanding toward the team this year and got what they were trying to do in the league and why they played that way and we were unlucky to get relegated. But it was still irritating as it felt like we were letting another season go to waste. We had three straight forward wins in the Ulster Championship before a heartbreaking loss in the Ulster Final. This was bound to take its toll in the next game out against Westmeath, who've shown that their performance against us was no fluke. I was critical of the team after the Tyrone game, as it was one that we really left behind. Today we showed that we can perform at this level and beat a big team in a tight game. That's psychologically massive for the team. There were still errors in our game that were frustrating. I think they got three scores in a row in the second half directly from our sloppy play. We had some real problems winning breaks and our kick out strategy still frustrates me.
However the guts, the hard work, the quality play, the good defending, some big catches and some great scores really stood out and was great to see. Listening to McGeeney after the game, he was right when he said that in all the games we've lost this year we haven't been far away and he's right. But that's what's so frustrating because if we had played a bit more like we can, we would have won more of those close games that we lost. To hear that James Morgan, Tony Kelly and Oisin O'Neill are all on their way back, along with the return of Rian O'Neill, plus two weeks off to prepare for a 1/4 final, is huge and gives us the best possible preparation for a big game at Croke Park and getting to an All Ireland 1/2 final.