Tribesmen still need key positions sorted out, says Loughnane

GER LOUGHNANE balanced his disappointment at losing yesterday’s league final with the important lessons learned by management and players — admitting that there are five or six positions in the team “which need to be sorted out”.

According to the Galway manager, the benefit of this game, combined with the experience gained against Cork in the semi-final, was invaluable. “Getting to the final, and getting in against a team like Tipperary and against a team of Cork’s determination in the second half here last week — you could be going around with fellows fooling you in training.! Now you know how players can cope with the white-hot heat. That was like a championship game. There will be a lot of championship games that won’t come near the standard of that in two or three months’ time.”

He conceded too, that the better team had won, a sentiment echoed by Joe Canning. From Loughnane’s perspective, his team was “hanging in more than they should have been”.