Galway boss Kevin Walsh is looking forward to a break after spending up to 60 hours a week getting his side back into Division 1 of the Allianz League for the first time in six years.
The Tribesmen saw off Kildare, who were also promoted, in Croke Park today to claim the Division 2 crown on a 0-18 to 0-16 scoreline.
A June 11 Connacht Championship date with Mayo, Sligo or New York awaits but today’s victors will have now have some down-time to take a breath, something which Walsh has welcomed after a hectic spring.
“We’re looking forward to a week off, to be honest,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“We’ll stop and assess the situation and look back over the whole league.
“It’s really tough because you’re trying to analyse opposition coming up, and you’re analysing what you did the week before so you’re going from one game to the next.
“There’s probably 60 hours a week going into it all the time so we just have to stop and assess where we’re at.
“There’s definitely some progress and we’ll just have to keep making progress.”
The Connacht side had not won a match in HQ since their All-Ireland final win over Meath in 2001.
Walsh said that stat didn’t play on their minds.
“It’s been a while since we had a victory in Croke Park, that’s been mooted for a long time but at the same time it wasn’t going to be a hindrance because we believe in what we are doing ourselves,” he said.
“It’s been a tough campaign, the same for every county, it’s seven games in ten weeks and when you get to a final it’s always nice to finish it off, silverware is hard to get.
“The boys are delighted with it, and so are we, we’ll take it and move on.”
