By Cian O’Connell

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Encouraged by the significant progress being made in the west Galway manager Kevin Walsh was delighted by how competitive his emerging team were against Dublin.

Johnny Heaney’s late point ensured the spoils were divided at Pearse Stadium on Sunday with Galway and Dublin now set to clash in the Allianz Football League decider next month.

“It’s a game we feel we should have won,” Walsh remarked. “Having said that, being a point down in injury time and to come back and get a point, we’ll take the draw.

“They were competitive, but that was our most important message. It’s the same message every day, to be as competitive as possible.

“Sometimes things will go against you, sometimes they’ll go with you. I suppose in the balance, a draw was probably a fair result.”

Walsh acknowledged valuable lessons were learned during a stint in which Dublin registered four scores without reply to hit the front before Heaney’s leveller.

“If you look back on it maybe there was a little bit of learning for ourselves in the fact that they were under pressure: that’s what Dublin do,” Walsh stated.

“There’s one or two things there that probably we can improve on which is good. Every day you’re playing, if you’re not learning, you’re in trouble.

“Sometimes you learn a lot more when people put pressure on. We would have said a hundred times which do you want, a big challenge or knowing you’re going off to have an easy game.

“And I think the answer from me always would be to be challenged. They challenged us and we’ll learn from that.”

Galway made seven changes from the team which beat Monaghan a week previously ensuring some key performers were afforded a rest.

“Absolutely, but, not only that, there were others guys who were itching," Walsh commented. "They were training really hard. It was a two-way sword, you could protect players who have been on the go for quite a bit and also guys who really deserved to get in and I think those guys did really well.”