McIntyre ‘thrilled’ by performance

GALWAY boss John McIntyre declared himself ‘thrilled’ with his side’s performance in last night’s Allianz NHL Division 1 final at Semple Stadium.

The Tipperary native also believes that his charges exploded a couple of myths and banished a few Thurles demons on their way to a comfortable eight-point win over Cork.

Galway’s last two visits to Semple Stadium ended in bitter disappointment – against Waterford in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final before being outscored 1-11 to 0-1 in the second half of their recent league clash with Tipperary. But last night’s win replicated the 2009 championship victory over the Rebels at the same venue and McIntyre reflected: “More often than not, when you get a performance you get the victory. We laid the foundations in the opening half against the wind, to turn over leading by four points. We challenged the players at half-time to bury this myth that they’re not a second-half team.

“Cork fought to the bitter end as well. I believe they wanted to win that league final maybe partially to justify their strike against Gerald McCarthy last year. They were under pressure as well.

“I’m told it’s Galway’s first ever victory over Cork at senior level in a national final. I’ll take that.”

McIntyre also highlighted a greater steel in his players as they fought hard for possession and coped brilliantly with Cork’s ‘twin towers’ – Michael Cussen and Aisake O hAilpín.

McIntyre revealed: “We spoke to some individuals during the week. There’s no point having all the talent in the world and being beautiful stick men. We need Galway to be more aggressive and to stand up against the big counties. We need them to lay their bodies on the line for the maroon jersey. They certainly did that.

“The last time we were here, we fell away against Tipperary and the second last time we were here, we got caught late by Waterford. We had to banish a few demons here.”

Galway centre back Tony Óg Regan vowed that there is more to come from the Westerners as they look forward to the Leinster SHC quarter-final clash with NHL Division Two champions Wexford on May 29.

Regan said: “We were all disappointed losing the league final against Tipperary two years ago. It’s nice to come out of Thurles with a win and it’s a great lift ahead of the Leinster championship against Wexford.

“The work rate up front set the tone. The forwards up front were unbelievable. How often were John Gardiner and those lads dispossessed? That was the foundation for this result. We’re improving every week.”