We knew it would go down to the wire, says MacNamara

SEEING him in the corner of the loser's dressing room, deliberating on the outcome with fellow county man Niall McInerney, you couldn't help thinking that Mike MacNamara would have relished being part of the Clare management, celebrating a special victory and a magical winning point.

But, like Noel Lane, his thoughts were primarily focused on the feelings of the Galway players and supporters - and on the management themselves.

Acknowledging “incredible” Clare, he said he always believed it would “go down to the wire”.

“What can I say, a super winning point from Colin Lynch - and a point that deserved to win any match I’d say. Clare have increased the tempo. They have increased with every game they have played and today was another step-up. And, they had to, because that was a well-drilled, well-prepared Galway team who were prepared to fight every inch - and did.

“Yet Clare still managed to come out on top. So, there’s a bit of fight left in the old dogs yet.’’

From Galway’s perspective, McNamara felt the game was lost when they failed to take late scoring opportunities. “With five minutes to go we felt that if Galway got ahead again that they were going to take it,’’ he added. “They made the opportunities but didn’t avail of them to go ahead. In that sense, I suppose, they just left it slightly behind them.

“But, one could not take from a performance from Clare which was reminiscent of the old days where they ran around after that ball like a greyhound would after a hare. One can’t take from the manner of their win. It was an incredible performance. Having improved steadily in every game, they are now formidable opponents for anybody. And now that they are really back in the frame, who is to say they won’t reach the ultimate?’’

Noel Lane questioned the decision to award Clare the free from which Niall Gilligan goaled in the 20th minute though he was not making an issue of it.

“It came against the run of play - dubiously, I thought - but no sour grapes. We were going well in the first half but we should have been more up at half-time, five or six points I reckon.

“I thought midway through the second half we had a few chances that we drove wide. We needed to be giving our forwards more space and more direct ball, but that wasn’t happening. It was probably the result of Clare pressure from their half-forward line and around midfield.

“We found it difficult to get quality ball forward that we wanted. And I think that that probably was where we fell in the end.’’

After going so close last season, he had hoped that with a stronger squad and after “a good win” over Cork. “They say you have to lose an All-Ireland to win one. We were hoping that would work out for us this year. But this game was more intense than we thought. We got space early on, but Clare closed us down a lot in the second half.’’

Former Clare star Niall McInerney, who joined Galway management after John Connolly opted out, feels their team is still developing.

“We have no complaints, really. Clare were the better team.”