Richie O'Neill proud of Galway's fighting spirit after 'shock'

Richie O'Neill was satisfied with Galway's efforts in their defeat to Cork, which came under the shadow of a family tragedy for manager Henry Shefflin.

Shefflin was not at Páirc Ui Chaoimh after his brother Paul (41) died suddenly while out running on Friday.

Galway battled with Cork all the way but eventually lost the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 encounter by 1-26 to 0-23.

"Obviously we would have loved the result to go differently," coach and selector O'Neill told RTÉ Sport.

"To come down here after that event, get 23 points, though 18 wides really hurt us, against a team of Cork's calibre that are flying in the league was really strong.

"For the events that went on we were really proud of them. They applied themselves really well but we could never get it back to three points.

"Cork always had us at arm’s length in fairness to them. They’re an excellent team with the ball and they’re well down the road."

O'Neill suggested Galway were prioritising new players over results but still saw encouraging signs compared to the six-point defeat to Wexford that had followed a win over All-Ireland champions Limerick.

"We had a game two weeks ago we were happy with, last weekend we weren’t. We looked for an improvement and I think we got definitely got that from the players.

"They really took the game to Cork and went at that. We have looked at 33 players in the league, two new starters today, two 18-year-olds.

"A midfielder (Ronan Glennon) getting five points from play, a wing-forward (Tom Monaghan) four from play. We have new people on the panel starting to stand up and push the incumbents."

O'Neill knew three-time club All-Ireland winner Paul Shefflin, having worked as part of Henry's Ballyhale management team.

"It was shocking to get