For all Galway won on Saturday evening at Croke Park, there was a sense Dublin might have lost more in defeat than the Tribesmen gained in victory.By the time Galway Girl was blaring out around the stadium, Hill 16 had mostly emptied save for a small pocket of maroon and white clad loyalists who had stubbornly held their ground at the rear of the terrace.For the previous hour or so they had been a small speck, lost within the home fans on the Hill among the 46,463 in attendance. The Dublin supporters even sent up blue a flare after Conal Ó Riain’s first-half goal – though it was more a hopeful signal than a triumphant one.The Galway team on the pitch didn’t need to send out distress calls at any stage because for the vast majority of the game, the Tribesmen were in control.And that says a lot for a team who had lost three of the previous four finals. Also, Galway hadn’t won in Croke Park since 2020.Micheál Donoghue was at pains afterwards to point out that there were 10 changes from the team that started last year’s Leinster final defeat.“I think the players deserve unbelievable credit. I think the manner in which we won it, the style of play that we played was really satisfying,” said the Galway manager.“I sat here last year really frustrated after the game that we didn’t implement the gameplan that we wanted when we came here. The team has gone through a fair transition over the last number of months and we’ve had some really good performances and within those performances some of it not so great but they showed huge willingness to always stay at it.“I’ve said it all year, it’s gone through a huge transition, I think it was 10 changes from the team that started today to the team that started last year.”Dublin's Darragh Power dejected after the game. Photograph: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho But for Dublin, where to now? This rollercoaster form-line has to stop at some stage. They went from beating Kilkenny in Parnell Park for the first time in championship hurling to losing a Leinster final by 14 points two weeks later. And against a Galway team Dublin had beaten only last month in Salthill.Donoghue said afterwards that winning a Leinster title was Galway’s main goal this year. One suspects it was top of Dublin’s shopping list too. The manner of the defeat won’t be helpful for belief.“It’s a killer, to be honest, it’s an absolute killer. We are well aware that we in Dublin have to take this step and haven’t there today,” said Dublin boss Neil O Ceallacháin when asked how much of a setback the loss is to the group.“It’s a significant blow to what we’ve done over the last few weeks. In the context of the Leinster Championship and what we want to do, it’s a significant blow.“But we just have to get it off the floor and drive it now in two weeks.”Galway have the benefit of a four-week break now to prepare for an All-Ireland semi-final while Dublin face a quarter-final against Clare. They must try park the disappointment of this loss, but it won’t be easy.“Each game takes its own form and it’s a new day. Your energy and aggression levels need to be on point and through the roof. It’s very hard to analyse it now and to break it down,” added Ó Ceallachain.“It looked like Galway handled the ball very well, they got off the shoulder very well, they got their heads up in possession and we were just second-best overall.“Listen, we were all in for today. It’s what we really wanted and we wanted to have the four weeks lead-in then to an All-Ireland semi-final.” “It’s very hard now but we’ve no choice over the next couple of days but to get the heads around it and get off the floor. It’s a new competition in two weeks’ time. Wherever it is, a neutral venue, there’ll be only six teams left in the All-Ireland at that point and we have to be ready to be wired to fully compete again.Galway will grow from this result. If lifting the Bob O’Keeffe was the goal, then the Tribesmen might be lining up a free shot at Liam MacCarthy.“Yeah, obviously, there’s the opportunity to come back here and play in an All-Ireland semi-final,” said Donoghue.“They’re rare occasions, we haven’t been here in a while for that. We had great support today. Hopefully now we get more here in a month’s time. Look, for us now it’s just enjoy the few days, get back to work and build to hopefully be a good opportunity for us.”