Jubilant as they were afterwards, the Kerry management were seeking assurances nobody took offence to their exuberance on the sideline before the final whistle. If it looked like there was triumphalism on their part as they cheered and hugged their substitutes, it wasn’t intended. Anybody who knows Kerry’s story would appreciate their unbridled delight.
Putting right what had gone wrong for them in the past two All-Ireland finals. Being able to take off Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh before the final whistle was a luxury and both co-managers Darragh Long and Declan Quill encouraged the supporters to raise their voices for their star veteran as she approached the sideline. “I’ll always remember Geraldine O’Shea saying, ‘If you can look up the clock and there’s five minutes left and you’re home and hosed, that’s a beautiful place to be,” smiled Quill.
“We haven’t been in that situation really all year. When we could take Louise off to get the standing ovation she so richly deserves after 16, 17 years playing with Kerry, I think that’s the really special thing to do. “For all of management to come down and hug at the end, as the whistle was going, that was really, really nice.
I just hope we weren’t disrespectful – I don’t think we were. People know that we’ve come from a low, low base. Conducted ourselves well over the last number of years.
” Long added that the day will be a benefit for Galway in the future. “If anything, for Daniel (Moyniha.