FOR the second time in three years, Padraic Joyce sat in the losers’ chair at the press conference.
“We had chances,” said the bitterly disappointed Galway manager.
They did. Their wide count was into double figures but none of them were gimmes. Galway had a lot of the ball but, with Shane Walsh, Damien Comer and Matthew Tierney well shackled and Rob Finnerty forced off early with injury, they didn’t do enough with it against a rock solid Armagh defence.
Armagh created the one off-the-cuff moment – Stefan Campbell’s pass and Aaron McKay’s goal – in the game and that, in the end, was the difference.
Armagh have now won two out of their three recent Championship meetings but Joyce rejected the suggestion that his good friend Kieran McGeeney’s side was a “bogey team” for his and he was generous in his praise for the new Sam Maguire holders.
“Fair play to them,” he said.
“They are a committed group, you can see the way they play, they give it everything and get the best out of the lads.
“They lost two of their best forwards today when Turbitt came off and Rory Grugan and they still found a way to win the game so that’s a sign of a good team. We are kind of similar to them and we have to give them a bit of praise. Fair play to them, they get the pats on the back, they get the plaudits and they’ll enjoy the next couple of weeks.”
The Armagh players and their joyous supporters who bring so much colour and passion to the GAA world, will be smiling from ear to ear for weeks after their victory.
Meanwhile, the loss will “haunt” the Tribesmen said Joyce.
“We’re absolutely devastated,” he said.
“The dressing room is in an awful state.
“We have to be realistic here - we didn’t play anywhere near to our potential in the second half.
“We probably made more mistakes in the second half than we’ve made in all the games all year. Look, it’s going to be hard to take.
“We had 25 shots on goal and we scored 13. I’m not going to sit here and criticise players because they’re great lads in Galway.
“The effort that they’ve put in for me all year, and the last five years, has been fantastic. It’s just hard to put your finger on how we didn’t perform the way we should have performed.
“It’s going to haunt us for a while. We had a great chance after a super year. Both teams did. We knew coming into it that someone was going to be disappointed and someone was going to be elated. We’re going to regret it for a long time.”
After McKay’s goal Armagh retreated into their shell and Joyce’s side closed the three-point gap to a single point but they could not get back on level terms. When Dylan McHugh’s shot hit the outside of the post it was clear that it just wasn’t going to be their day.
“It’s that bit of luck,” said Joyce.
“It was a great shot with the outside of the right.
“He’s been a fantastic player for us all year and he’s devastated that creator but what can you do, at least he took the shot on, it’s hit the post… He’s unlucky, they had one that hit the post and it hopped over the bar. They’re small margins of luck on the day and we didn’t have it.”
What now for Galway? Kerry pulled away to beat them in 2022 but Joyce says this year’s defeat is harder to take.
“We had chance after chance after chance and it’s going to be hard to take,” he said.
“We’ll stick together in Galway football, we’ve come a long way from where we were, we are devastated today but football in Galway has improved.
“At least we’re back up at the top table. It’ll be a tough couple of days trying to get home tomorrow and we can hopefully hide in the middle of race week next week and do something out of the way but it’s going to be a tough few days.”
