Galway 'absolutely devastated' - McIntyre

Galway manager John McIntyre struggled to hide his devastation after the one-point loss to Tipperary in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling quarter-finals in Croke Park on Sunday.

Lar Corbett's late point proved the difference between the two teams as the Premier County claimed a 3-17 to 3-16 win.

McIntyre revealed his players were struggling to cope with the heartbreaking conclusion to the match as he paid tribute to his side.

'I'm just after leaving our dressing room and it absolute devastation. There are winners and there are losers but I don't feel my team are losers today. I'm very proud of them. They died with their boots on.

'I couldn't have asked for any more. You got to give Tipp enormous credit, two points down in the dying moments and they had the wherewithal and the courage and maybe the experience to pull out the three match winning scores.

'The Galway players left everything on pitch, they are crestfallen in there as are the backroom team and myself.

'I couldn't be prouder of them. Fair dues to Tipp, they won it the hard way and we just fell short of the line.

McIntyre hit out at the criticism his team received after the loss to Kilkenny this year, believing that Sunday's match is a example of how tight things can be in the Championship.

'The problem when a team loses is the pundits and supporters assume things are not right in the camp.

'There was such a thin line between winning and losing today. When teams lose matches the perception out there is that the management were off the pace, the players were off the pace.

'In a game like today it could have gone either way. This is tough.'

He said he felt his side answered all the 'question marks posed by journalists, supporters and pundits'.