O Domhnaill reveals nub of O'Mahony victory talk

The mystery surrounding John O'Mahony's half-time pep talk, thought to have rejuvenated Galway and spurred them to All-Ireland success on Sunday, was laid bare by giant midfielder Sean O Domhnaill at yesterday's luncheon for the four All-Ireland finalists at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin.

There really was no plan to change, said O Domhnaill. "We continued to play as we had done throughout the championship, mixing the short pass with the long ball."

But O Domhnaill said the nine words from O'Mahony that made the biggest impact at half-time were: "You are better than that and you know it."

"We all knew he was right and we went out to prove it to ourselves," O Domhnaill said. "We felt that there was no point in changing a plan, if you can call what we had been doing all year a plan as such.

"During the first 20 minutes we were holding on to the ball too long, that is probably what happened us. In the second half we started to release the ball quickly, using the short and long pass, and it paid off."

Kildare star Dermot Earley felt the brunt of that Galway transformation.

"I don't know what they (Galway) said at half-time but they came out in the second half guns blazing and blitzed us."

Earley said Galway were hungrier for the ball. Galway and Corofin captain Ray Silke is already looking forward to defending Corofin's club championship in the Connacht quarter-finals against UCG on Sunday.

"That's the reality of football," he said. "You have to try and get your best foot forward and get going again." Silke epitomises the true spirit of the amateur Gaelic football player.

"The club is where it starts and the club is where it ends," he said.

No player should ever forget that, he added. Silke said there were no plans to reassemble the county squad yet but he would return to football even earlier than next weekend - Galway line out against Mayo in the annual GOAL challenge match in Tuam at 5.30 p.m. tomorrow .

"Some of our guys have big decisions to make. It's too early at this stage to discuss any possibility of anyone retiring." Silke said he anticipated his team taking a fully committed interest in the National League. He hoped for a good run in Division One. "The county board will need the money that can be realised by playing in Division One. We haven't played in the top division for some time and it can be very expensive getting teams to win All-Irelands."

Mick Byrne, the Galway squad's popular physiotherapist who is to switch bosses from O'Mahony to Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy, said: "I love this because it's a tradition. "I played Gaelic football and you have to play the game to appreciate the winning of the Sam Maguire." Byrne won senior championship medals with Clan na Gael.

"Look at John O'Mahony, a fantastic manager," he said. "In every game there are periods when the game goes with you and the game goes against you. We had a sticky period 10 to 15 minutes before half-time.

"I knew the players knew what had to be done. Thankfully we did it fantastically."

GAA president Joe McDonagh paid a special tribute to Mick O'Dwyer, the Kildare manager: "Mick O'Dwyer is perhaps the most extraordinary person ever involved in Gaelic football on or off the field."

McDonagh thanked O'Dwyer on behalf of the GAA for "transmitting your passion and dedication to the game born of a great Kerry tradition to your adopted county of Kildare".

O'Dwyer said: "I know what it's like to lose, the feeling never changes."

He said Padraig Joyce's pointed free towards the end of the first half had a big bearing on the result.

"Instead of going in with a four-points lead, they had reduced us to three and gained a psychological benefit," he said.

"Galway played great football in the second half. They are young team that will be hard to beat for years to come."

Kildare selector Pat Dunny had no doubts that the better team had won.