'He's a bear' - Micheál Donoghue hails Daithí Burke for bouncing back from injury in Leinster final win 

Galway saw off Dublin at Croke Park on Saturday evening.

Galway manager Micheál Donoghue with Eoghan O'Donnell of Dublin. Pic: INPHO/Tom O’Hanlon

Galway manager Micheál Donoghue revealed Daithí Burke and the medical team thought he had dislocated his knee in the first half before he returned to the field to give a commanding display in this Leinster final victory.

Burke had to go off for running repairs on his right knee which required strapping. His marker John Hetherton had his only sight of goal while the five-time All-Star was being tended to by the medics.

“He thought he actually dislocated it and went back again,” said Donoghue of 33-year-old Burke. “That's just a testament to the man he is. He's a bear.” A first SHC win for Galway in Croke Park since 2020 and bridging an eight-year break to the previous Leinster title, Donoghue was delighted for the seasoned players like Burke, Conor Whelan and the Mannion brothers, Pádraic and Cathal.

“I thought the elder statesmen today were absolutely outstanding, they led the way. There's a good balance there (with youth), so it's nice to get silverware and push on now again.” 

With the naked eye, Donoghue felt the black card and penalty against Conor Whelan was a tough call. “For me, I haven't seen it (back), our initial reaction on the line was that it was further out and there was loads of bodies. Genuinely, I haven't seen it, my initial reaction was that it was harsh.” 

It had been felt that Galway’s form had tapered slightly towards the end of the provincial round stages, but Donoghue wasn’t concerned by it. He did field some injury concerns like Rory Burke but the silverware was worth it.

“My view on that (perception) is that in some performances we were getting criticised but in our world we were still in transition and there's a lot of young fellas there and they're learning their trade.

“In Galway when you have a few decent performances the expectation levels go through the roof and then if you have mediocre performances it's the end of the world.

“For us in the group, we kept that balance and just trying to be getting better every single day. I'm not saying it's the finished article by any stretch, we still have a lot of work to do but there's some really good talented young fellas there and they have a great opportunity now over the next few years to push on.” 

Dublin manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin made no excuses for a second successive championship defeat where the performance was lacking.

“We absolutely had thrown everything into this. No excuses, the best team won by a good distance. I thought they started off really well, 1-7 to 0-3 or whatever it was after ten or 12 mins. I thought we settled into the game well then.

“At half-time, I thought we were okay. We were three or four points down but I felt there was a lot more in us. But in the second half, while we had a couple of goal chances that could have given us a lifeline and could have kicked us on, they were certainly by far the better team. Their legs and energy in the second half caused us big problems. In that second half, we were definitely second best."

Dublin must now pick themselves off the floor for a quarter-final against Clare. “It's very hard now but we've no choice over the next couple of days but to get the heads around it and get off the floor.

“It's a new competition in two weeks' time. Wherever it is, a neutral venue, there'll be only six teams left in the All-Ireland at that point and we have to be ready to be wired to fully compete again."