'The girls died in their boots out there' - Cathal Murray

Galway manager expresses pride after team’s defeat

GALWAY camogie boss Cathal Murray was gracious and magnanimous after his side's 2-14 to 0-19 defeat to Cork at Croke Park on Sunday.

As Cork celebrated to Kingfishr's hit song “Killeagh” in the background, Murray shared his thoughts on a thrilling All-Ireland Senior Championship final between the counties.

ON SAOIRSE MCCARTHY & ORLAITH CAHALANE'S DECISIVE GOALS

They had a big run. It was always going to happen, they were always going to have a purple patch. We probably didn't manage it as well as we'd like. Look, goals win games. You know, they got two sucker punch goals in fairness, two really good goals from their point of view. From our point of view, we'd have regrets about it. The girls died in their boots out there. You'd be very, very proud of them to be honest with you.

I think we'd have a lot of regrets, but every losing team has them. We did probably have chances, I'm not sure the wide count in the second half. Just real momentum killers, I felt at the time. We’ve a young team, a lot of players playing their first All-Ireland final today. A lot of players really, really stood up, especially younger players and that's great to see. Niamh Mallon had to go off, Ciara Hickey had to go off. They're two massive, massive players for us as well. I'm just really proud of their reaction to that and really proud of the way they battled on. We had chances, we just probably needed to take one more.

ON CORK'S MAJORS SHAPING THE RESULT

The first one we'd probably be disappointed about, but it was a great goal from Saoirse [McCarthy]’s point of view. The second one from [Orlaith Cahalane] coming so close after it then was a real sucker punch. We were 2-14 to 0-14 down. I don't think Cork scored after that then. We got five points and really, I think that was from 10 or 11 scoring chances. That's what we'll have regrets about. I think we brought the game to them in the last 10 minutes, showed our character, showed our resilience. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

If you told me this morning we'd score 19 points in an All-Ireland final, I'd have bitten your hand off. Unfortunately, goals win games and we can see the two big sucker punches of goals. That was the difference in the end.

ON SARAH HEALY’S LAST-GASP FREE

You probably saw me on the field jumping and roaring, but it was the last puck of the game. We were told it was the last puck of the game. There wasn't even an option of passing the ball. We just had to go and score [a goal] direct. Obviously, Sarah Healy has a serious shot in her. Fair play to her for coming up and fair play to her for going for it. It just didn't work out. We probably had chances before that just to leave the minimum between the teams. That's the way it goes.

Really proud of the character we showed, especially in the last 10-15 minutes and get back into the game. I think it was a great advertisement for camogie. I think it's a brilliant, brilliant game. Again, they seem to bring out the best in us. There's no gripes for me, Cork deserve to be All-Ireland champions. I always say the best two teams get to an All-Ireland. There's no doubt about it, the best two teams got to the All-Ireland this year. Best team won it and that's Cork. We just have to hold our hands up. We’re certainly disappointed but really, really proud of the character. Really proud of the resilience as always with our team and this group. I'm sure we'll have regrets but every losing team has.

ON TIGHT MARGINS AGAIN BETWEEN THE SIDES

We probably felt there was a big performance brewing in our girls. We certainly got that performance we're really proud of. As I said, just a few things that went against us. Fair due to Cork, they were the better team and were really, really good all year. Deserving All-Ireland champions.

ON LOSING NIAMH MALLON TO A SHOULDER INJURY

She hurt her head as well, but the shoulder has been a problem. I wasn't lying to you a few weeks ago when I talked about all the injuries. We have a lot of players that unfortunately weren't touch-and-go for today, but probably weren't able to train fully for the last two weeks.

Niamh would have played before this, she hurt her shoulder against Cork in the first round, she re-injured it in an in-house game. We were delighted getting her on the field today. We felt she was ready, but there was always the chance. She needs an operation, there's no doubt about that. She just fell hard, hit her head off the ground as well and unfortunately wasn't able to go back on. That was a big blow.

ON LOSING CIARA HICKEY TO A KNEE INJURY

Ciara Hickey's probably one of the best players in the game, I thought she was incredible. When she's on the field for us, her reading the game, breaking up of challenges for Cork. She was a massive, massive loss. A lot of teams, when they're six points down, they lose their centre-back and lose their midfielder - on top of the players we were missing already - I think they'd have just died. We didn't. Kept on going, I thought Carrie Dolan won incredible ball for us in the second half and brought us forward. The likes of Caoimhe Kelly and Niamh Niland, any time you've got the ball into them, they're incredibly dangerous.

ON GALWAY'S 0-9 TO 0-7 HALF-TIME LEAD

We were in a really good spot. It was all about concentrating on the first ten minutes after half-time and keep doing what we're doing. Cork are really good when they get momentum. Just in that period of the game where they got probably 2-1 or 2-2 in-a-row, they just got that momentum and got some serious scores. We got chances, probably just missed one or two by inches, that's the way it goes.

ON CARRIE DOLAN'S SECOND HALF FREE THAT WAS WAVED WIDE

I thought it was a point myself. Hawk-Eye was on today, I presume. The referee or the linesman was telling me that Hawk-Eye would have called it, if it was. It looked from my angle that it was over the bar, but again, it's not a gripe. No gripes with the referee, I think, to be honest with you. I spoke to him afterwards.

I think that's the way we want to see camogie being played. The physicality, the level it's gone to, the strength and conditioning, is brilliant to see. It had to be an unbelievable game, because it looked an unbelievable game for me on the sideline, and I hope that was the case.

Look, that's the way we want camogie to be played. There's plenty of tackles let go and plenty of physicality let go. That's what we're crying out for, so no gripes with that. I think Gavin [Donegan] did a really, really good job.

ON THE SENSE OF ‘WHAT IF’

We talked about that loss after 2024. We felt coming down the stretch there, we had chances that we just didn't take, or it didn't stick. You have to have that composure and look, that's the difference. Unfortunately, that happens. It's a learning curve. When you have probably seven,eight, maybe nine U-23s on the field, they're going to learn. Unfortunately, usually you learn the hard way. Of course, there's 'what ifs', but I'm sure Cork had 'what ifs' last year. That's the way it is in All-Ireland finals. Really proud of the girls. 19 points in an All-Ireland final. It's devastating, it's heart-wrenching. They work so hard and they do so much.

ON GALWAY'S AGE PROFILE

There was a lot of young players out there that will be unbelievable players going forward for Galway. Probably an awful lot of U-23 players on that field at the end. Cork have plenty of U-23 players as well. There's two super groups coming there. Going into Dublin today with the Garda escort and all that, you do that once, you want to repeat that all the time. We're very proud of the consistency we brought to it. Incredibly proud of the way we performed today. Unfortunately, that’s sport, it's life. You have to pick it up and you have to come back, and hopefully that hunger will make us a better team next year.