Waterford manager Liam Cahill praised the character of his players after they withstood a late Galway rally to win today's Round 2 qualifier in Semple Stadium, stressing that they had fought for the Waterford jersey - and for himself.
Cahill was sharply critical of his team after their Munster first round loss to Clare in June, lamenting their flatness, remarking that "too many players failed."
They subsequently made heavy weather of overcoming Laois in the opening round of the qualifiers, entering Saturday's game as underdogs against a side originally pegged as second favourites for the 2021 All-Ireland.
However, a whirlwind first half display saw them overwhelm their bizarrely lethargic opponents, ultimately building them enough of a cushion to survive a late surge from the westerners.
"It was a great game of hurling," Cahill told RTÉ Sport afterwards. "It was end to end stuff. It'll just tell you the quality of this Galway team, they didn't go away, came really at us.
Really proud of the way they battled it out down a man and saw it out until the end
"But really proud of my own lads, the way they stuck at the task, down to 14 man, and really dug it out. Lesser teams and players with lesser character could have folded there with five or six minutes to go after surrendering a 13 or 14 point lead. So really proud of the way they battled it out down a man and saw it out until the end.
"I know people listening to this or reading it tomorrow will say 'oh, it's easy for him praise his team when we win and he wasn't so complimentary after Clare'
"But really what I'm saying is, what I see in those players every night (in training) is what was seen out there today on the field. That's why I was so, maybe, irate after the first round of the Munster championship because they weren't their true selves.
"The path we're in is quite difficult and there's going to be a lot of tired bodies during the week where we have to recover and go again.
"But the players fought for everything today, the pride in that Waterford jersey. They really fought for me as well, and for that I'm indebted to these players, they're with me 100% and I really need to make that clear to everybody, we have a great relationship."
"I know people listening to this or reading it tomorrow will say 'oh, it's easy for him praise his team when we win and he wasn't so complimentary after Clare'
Leading 1-18 to 0-09 after a blitzkrieg first-half display, Waterford were hit with a jolt upon the resumption, referee Sean Stack waiting by the tunnel to brandish a red card to Conor Gleeson as they trooped out for the second half, belated punishment for his striking out at Joe Canning on the stroke of half-time.
"It was a massive shock to the system when we were coming out," says Cahill.
"We hadn't obviously planned for that. Suddenly, you're down to 14 men, the players are trying to re-jig quickly. It definitely took us a while to get our heads around it but I thought we stemmed it well until the water-break and looked reasonably comfortable.
"But it was energy sapping in the heat today, Galway, with the extra man, were able to create the overlap and got in for a couple of goals. That's the way it works, that's championship hurling, it's helter-skelter."
Following a grim championship campaign, Galway boss Shane O'Neill was inclined to stress the positives, namely, Galway's comeback from 16 points down in the middle of the second half to make it a three-point game at the beginning of the lengthy injury-time period.
"In the first half, we didn't quite get into a rhythm," admitted O'Neill, speaking to RTÉ Sport after the game.
"We probably left ourselves with too much to do. But I thought in the second half, particularly in the final quarter, we kept going til the bitter end and were the stronger team. Waterford, in fairness to them, got two or three points to stem the tide.
"That seemed to have got them over the line but our boys still came back again, got a goal and a couple more points. I genuinely thought we were going to get over the line in the end but it just wasn't to be.
"At the end of the first quarter, it was still 9-7 so it wasn't particularly that they ran away from us. It was probably after that (that this happened). I suppose it's just something you'll have to look back on to see what may or may not have happened.
"But from our perspective, with this group, to battle the way they did from being so far down and to bring it right back to where it looked like we were going to win the game, is very pleasing for the lads and it shows the character we have.
"There was no panic there at all. I think at one stage, we were 15 or 16 points down and could have thrown in the towel. But it was the total opposite.
"The boys stayed calm, they knew there was a job to do and we were still in the game. That actually turned out to be the case, it was very close but just not meant to be."
While traipsing out of the championship, Joe Canning did pass out Henry Shefflin's all-time championship scoring record, the Portumna attacker central to Galway's late charge, beautifully setting up Jason Flynn's first goal to narrow the gap to three.
Speculation will likely mount about the inter-county futures of several experienced Galway players, Canning included.
"It's a personal accolade and Joe will be the first (to say) that that will be for many years down the line," says O'Neill.
"An unbelievable achievement but Joe is absolutely devastated like everyone else in that dressing room."
