Ford refuses to be drawn on Galway future

Peter Ford refused to be drawn on his future as Galway manager after his side fell to a one-goal defeat to Meath in this afternoon's All-Ireland third round qualifier in Portlaoise.

Ford was ratified as Galway boss for a third year last November but it remains to be seen if 2007 is his final season in charge. In the aftermath of today's game, he was giving little away about his future plans.

"All I was thinking about was today's match. Obviously I'm just out of the dressing room and it's difficult when I'm after talking (to the players). You don't even think like that," Ford said.

The Galway supremo was keen to focus on the concerns of his players after the 2-14 to 1-14 loss.

"My main concern is the disappointment that is there and getting guys' heads up again. They can walk out of here with their heads held high and they battled until the end and that is my only concern."

Galway trailed by 2-6 to 0-6 at the interval after Stephen Bray blasted home two goals for the Royals but Ford knew that his players were not going to throw in the towel.

"At half-time it didn't look good in one sense but we knew we had played quite well and that it was the goals that killed us really.

"Everyone promised that they would give everything in the second half and we would try to keep it tighter at the back. We knew we had a great chance and we would create scores and that's what the lads did and they tried hard until the very end," he added.

"I felt when we got level in the second half there was a crucial period there when Meath got a few frees and they were crunch calls. They got back to a point or two ahead but all of a sudden we were four down again and it was hard to draw the line."