By Eanna O’Reilly

GALWAY team manager Cathal Murray was very pleased with his players after they produced an excellent display in Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final at Nowlan Park and deservedly overcame Tipperary. Murray felt that the first half display against the elements laid the foundation for Galway’s victory.

‘‘I thought it was a really good performance today,’’ he said. ‘‘We started very well, came out of the blocks really well and got some great scores. We conceded a soft goal then, and in fairness to Tipperary, they were always going to come back into it. We were very happy going in at half-time level, and we had the breeze behind us in the second half.

‘‘I thought we were the better team in the first half and any time we got ball into the forwards we looked really dangerous. Tipp had a purple patch after the goal, but I thought we handled that really well. After that, I thought the second half was a brilliant performance.’’

Having seen the form displayed in training by the Galway players in recent weeks, Murray felt that a strong display was on the cards.

‘‘Training has gone really well in the last four weeks. The competition for places in the team has never been stronger. Winning the under 23 All-Ireland gave everyone a huge lift, and those girls brought great energy back into training since then. We were confident that there was a big performance coming today, and we’re really happy with how we performed.’’

Murray felt that his side demonstrated an excellent level of hunger, and willingness to fight for every ball throughout the contest. Despite the fact that Tipp were trying to reach their first final in 19 years, they couldn’t match the Tribeswomen for hunger on the day.

‘‘Our work rate was really good, and I thought our forwards were excellent. To score 1-13 [from play] was great today. The amount of turnovers they won was just as important. We always say defence starts with the forwards and they really made it hard for Tipp to come out with the ball.

‘‘The backs were outstanding as well; we only conceded four scores from play. We’re back in the final now, which is where we wanted to be. Your whole year of training is geared towards being there on All-Ireland Final day.’’

With the semi-final hurdle cleared for the fifth time in seven seasons, Murray was turning his attention to the final on August 10 at Croke Park. The manager emphasised the point that winning the semi-final will count for little unless they back it up with a strong final performance.

‘‘It’s going to be a huge challenge in the final, we know we’re going to be up against it. We have a huge amount of work to do in the next couple of weeks. But we’re going to embrace the challenge. It’s all about winning when you get to this stage. We’re only in the final now. We have no cup in the dressing room, and there’s a world of a difference between just being there and winning an All-Ireland,’’ he concluded.

Pictured: Galway team manager Cathal Murray follows the action against Tipperary at Nowlan Park on Saturday. Photo: INPHO/Bryan Keane.