Carlow manager Tom Mullally spoke of his pride in his players after they defeated Offaly in extra time at Croke Park to triumph to the Joe McDonagh Cup title.

The Barrowsiders dug deep in the dying stages at headquarters and it was Chris Nolan’s in extra time injury-time that secured them the 2-29 to 1-31 win in an epic encounter.

Speaking to GAA.ie afterwards, Mullally hailed his players’ character after earning the win against the Faithful men.  

“For the panel and for the county, there's a huge amount of pride there,” he said.

“They produced an excellent performance over the course of the normal 70 minutes and then there were character questions because momentum had swung Offaly's way and we had to answer those questions in the additional time and we just got across the line.

“That's the nature of the contest that it was, it was always going to boil down to not disappearing or hiding. Huge credit is due to our players for coming through that contest against an excellent Offaly side.

“Momentum had swung to Offaly and it was just about us realising this was the start of another game as such. So we tried to make that clear because lads can lose sight of that. We had two halves still to play and that was crucial to us that we got our heads clear.

“To be fair to this group of players we have, they've shown that character all year long. I had no doubts about their ability to do that.

“Every player on this panel is proud to be a Carlow man. They're proud of their involvement with this team. We're so proud of all of them too and their contribution over the course of the year. I can't state enough how proud they are to play for Carlow.”

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