Saturday at Eamonn Deacy Park was chiefly about Galway WFC's resilience. Five minutes before the break after DLR Waves had just hit the front and Galway WFC's excellent captain Savannah McCarthy was stretchered off, the home team appeared to be in some bother.
Alan Murphy's team, though, responded with a defiant display as Aoife Thompson scored to divide the spoils. A point was earned, but one was also made: there is no shortage of character in the Galway WFC squad.
"In the first half there probably wasn't a lot between the teams being honest," Murphy says.
"I thought we made one error, they capitalised on that. It was a double whammy for us because we lost a goal and we lost our captain in the same incident. It knocked us back a bit, but I thought we reacted really well.
"Kate Thompson came on, she was excellent, she slotted in really well for such a young person. I was disappointed, to be honest, at the end, I thought we should have won the game. We had enough chances, I didn't think they had any real chances bar the mistake that we made."
Chances were created by Murphy's side. "We did, with some really good play at times," he replied. "The good thing I thought about it was that we forced the issue.
"If you look at the really good teams in this league, they are clinical. When the opposition make an error they capitalise. We have to take a bit of guidance from that."
McCarthy suffered a serious leg injury which is a significant blow and it is uncertain when the Republic of Ireland international will be able to return.
"It is very difficult to know," Murphy says. "I have obviously been in contact with her a lot since the game.
"She had an x-ray which ruled out a break, but now we are obviously down the route of MRIs to see in terms of ligaments or tendons, that type of stuff, is done.
"It is too early yet because the swelling is really high, but fingers crossed. It doesn't look great, but these things sometimes don't, we might get a good result."
A trip to Lissywollen for a WNL fixture against Tommy Hewitt's improving Athlone Town is next on Saturday afternoon.
"They have performed pretty well this season so far," Murphy says.
"Against Shels last week there wasn't a lot in the game. They seem to be really up for the fight and well organised under Tommy and they will be a difficult one to go away to on Saturday."
**Listen to the full interview with Galway WFC manager Alan Murphy on this week's 'Cian on Sport' podcast available on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
