Micheal Donoghue cut a relieved figure after Galway edged out Tipperary to set up an All-Ireland SHC final showdown with either Cork or Waterford on September 3.

"The overriding feeling is relief," the Galway manager said after Joe Canning's sensational late winning point decided a pulsating semi-final at Croke Park.

"From my perspective, you'd be hoping that it didn't turn into a shootout again like it did the last two years.

"When it turns into that, it's cat and mouse, up and down the field and you don't know what's going to happen. The two teams draw the best out of each other.

"We said at half-time that we were happy enough, we were within touching distance and we pushed the boys to improve on a few areas. We pushed them on work-rate, desire and attitude."

Donoghue wasn't surprised to see Canning, who took time to grow into the game, come up trumps with a match-winner that will live long in the memory. 

"When he gets a ball in that position there is a great chance it is going to go over," he noted.

"I think in big games like that big moments are defined by your big players and he really stood up to the mark.

"I thought in the first half it (the game) was probably bypassing him a bit and in a game like that you want your big players on the ball.

"We moved him inside because there was a lot ball going in in the first half. So we moved him inside into the full-forward line. It just seemed that wherever he was it wasn't going to. In the second half it was just bring him back out to midfield and get him going through the lines and get back into the game again and he came up with a few scores."

Tweet

Most Read Stories