PADRAIC JOYCE PAID an emotional tribute to his former All-Ireland winning boss John O’Mahony in the wake of Galway’s semi-final triumph in Croke Par today.
Victory over Donegal puts Galway into the decider for the second time in three seasons.
Joyce will aim to claim an All-Ireland title as a manager, something Galway last achieved in 2001 when he was the man-of-the-match attacker, and O’Mahony was on the sideline guiding the Tribesmen.
O’Mahony passed away last Sunday at the age of 71 and Joyce hailed the guidance provided by his former manager.
“When the news came up to us last Sunday morning, we were obviously heartbroken. Obviously shed a tear because the man has meant so much to me personally and to Galway players. Our Whats App group there from ’98, ’01, was hopping.
“Lads were just really, really heartbroken, and look it again, you can’t be heartbroken unless you love someone. So lookit, we loved him as a man, he was a great manager, he was a brilliant friend. Really good mentor as well to me over the last couple of years and I’ll miss talking to him, I’ll miss his phonecalls, I’ll miss his advice, but look it our thoughts are with Geraldine and the kids all week.
“It was a tough, tough week to be honest but we had to try and separate the emotion of that and get prepared for the game, which I thought we did well. In fairness I think he got a fantastic tribute there beforehand.
“Obviously I take a bit from him, he was ahead of his time as a manager in our time, he was well organised and everything. He’s a big loss to us, super man.”
Joyce felt his team’s experience of close contests served them well in claiming this victory.
“I think we were a more battled hardened team coming down the stretch, if you look at the games we played – Mayo in the Connacht final, the Sligo game obviously we were in trouble but we found a way to win it, and then we have had Derry, Armagh, Westmeath, Dublin the last day, whereas Donegal the last two games they have coasted through probably Clare and Louth easier than they would have liked.
“It showed in the game on Saturday night even, Armagh were the more battle hardened team and they found a way to stick it out. I think that was the difference, we are probably a little bit more developed than Donegal, to be honest.”
The wins pits them against Armagh for the fourth championship meeting in two seasons. Their most recent meeting was a draw in Markievicz Park last month. Joyce was asked after today, could he have envisaged that pair being the last two teams standing this year.
“Well if you ask Kieran McGeeney next week what was texted to him that night, that will answer the question for you.”
The contest to claim the Sam Maguire will be intriguing.
