Drained Mulholland looks on the positives after near disaster

GALWAY football manager Alan Mulholland was visibly sapped of all energy as he gave his post-match interview following his side’s second round qualifier escape against Waterford at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.

It’s no wonder. Galway were 1/10 favourites to account for Waterford but for large periods of the game they were second best and looked certain to crash out of the championship with the shock of the decade.

With 15 minutes or so to go, Galway looked dead but Waterford lacked the experience and composure to bury them. Instead, great displays from Paul Conroy and Michael Meehan, who scored an unlikely goal to resurrect Galway and break Waterford hearts, saved the day. Just about.

“Look, after I get over the drainage of the game I will be happy and we as a group will be happy because we’re preparing for the next round of the championship,” said Mulholland.

“This time last year we were out. That’s improvement. We’ve won two championship games, something we haven’t done in Galway for a while. We’d like a better performance. We’re in bonus territory now and hopefully we’ll begin to play with a little less pressure.”

He added: “We’re happy to get out of here with a point victory. It wasn’t the performance we had hoped for but at least we’re still in the championship. We had a brief chat and some of the senior members in there (dressing room) were pointing out that they’ve played a lot better in the past and lost by a point. I’d prefer to not be playing great and winning by a point than the opposite.”

Galway joins the other winners over the weekend (Tyrone, Derry, Laois) into the third round qualifier draw which will be made after next weekend’s round two action.