Galway manager Micheal Donoghue said he had “100 percent belief” his team would reach this year’s All-Ireland hurling final.
The Leinster champions produced a huge display to score an emphatic win over Cork in Saturday’s semi-final and now have a final against either Limerick or Clare to look forward to on 19 July.
While Cork entered the game as favourites to progress to a third-straight final, Saturday’s defeat had overtones from their defeat by Tipperary in last year’s decider as they found themselves in a deep hole they couldn’t find a way out of.
Galway opened brightly, narrowed the gap to one at the break before outscoring the Rebels 1-14 to 0-5 in the second period as they got it tactically perfect and took complete control.
While their Leinster final victory over Dublin in June highlighted their ability to deliver a top performance, some questioned whether they could produce the same again Cork, but Donoghue had no doubt.
“We had 100 percent belief we were going to win the match today,” he told BBC Sport NI.
“These lads, since October/November, have been outstanding and brought an unbelievable energy to the jersey.
“They have gone from strength to strength and the month off gave us time to regroup. We worked really hard over the last couple of weeks and I think that was evident today.”
Donoghue was at the helm for Galway’s last All-Ireland title success in 2017 and again the following year when they lost to Limerick in the final – their last appearance on hurling’s biggest day.
The current squad contain some survivors from those finals and also some newcomers.
One of the veterans, Daithi Burke, entered Saturday’s semi-final with a knee injury sustained against Dublin but was cleared to play.
In the first half, the 33-year-old had problems containing Cork’s Brian Hayes as it seemed the injury was proving problematic, but Donoghue did not consider withdrawing the Turloughmore clubman at the break.
“No, definitely not,” he stressed.
“He’s a huge player for us, one of the biggest leaders in the team and you want him on the pitch.”
When Hayes misplaced a pass early in the second half and Burke burst out of defence to find Tom Monaghan out on the left wing who picked off a score, it seemed to convert the remaining doubters as momentum was now firmly behind them.
Yet there was never any doubt within the group and they will carry that approach into the final in a fortnight against either Limerick or Clare who meet in the second semi-final on Sunday [16:00 BST].
“The evidence was there right throughout the league and the championship for us,” Donoghue said of his side’s potential.
“We were written off before the game but we got a huge performance and I’m just delighted to get over the line.
“We didn’t listen to the noise outside. We just kept our focus and prepared for every game and that’s what we will do again in two weeks’ time.”
