Victory dedicated to late John Joyce

ALAN MULHOLLAND won a minor medal with Galway in 1986 and yesterday he was back in Croke Park, this time to savour success as a coach to a Galway team that bridged a 21-year gap.

Captain of that team was the late John Joyce and Mulholland graciously dedicated victory to him.

“This year is the 10th anniversary of his death, and he clearly was looking down on us today,” said Mulholland.

Alan accepted that his side were fortunate to win the game, but was delighted they did, particularly after being denied a fair point which would have levelled the game midway through the second half.

“Now that it all over and there isn’t another game to play, I have to be honest and say I thought we had blown it. Derry were very good at defending and up to the time that Damien (Reddington) got that goal I felt it was not going to be our day.

“Fortunately it was when the chips were down that the character of the team shone through. With three minutes to go we needed to score at least four points to win the game and credit to the lads, they never lost their nerve, and kept plugging away.”

Referring to the point that wasn’t given, Mulholland said he watched the replay on the big screen and saw it was a fair score.

“I’m delighted we won the game for that dreadful decision alone. Had we lost it, that point would have become an issue. It’s a ‘bye the way’ now, but it should never have happened.

“Twenty one years is a long time for a county like Galway to be without a minor title. It’s been a long time coming. A monkey has been lifted off the backs of the 1986 team of which I was a member.

“It’s been a privilege being involved with these lads. There are some great leaders among them, but I sincerely hope they are given time to develop and become physically stronger before they move into senior ranks.

“However he made the decisive decision to go for the goal and that takes a certain amount of character — particularly at this level. Fortunately he found the net. But we had talked about that during the campaign, that if we got a sniff of a goal, take the chance. Thankfully Damien did and as they say, the rest is now history.”