For Galway, striving to end that lengthy wait for All Ireland hurling glory had long been an objective.
But on a personal level for Joe Canning - one of the modern greats - it also ended his own quest to get his hands on the Liam McCarthy Cup.
Beating Waterford yesterday meant that ambition can now be ticked off the list and as he told Off The Ball's Oisin Langan today, his sense of achievement was clear, when asked what the phrase 'Joe Canning All Ireland Senior Hurling Medalist' meant to him.
Speaking at the team hotel, he said: "Relief, I suppose, in a way. It's weird to put it into words. It's not quite sunk in yet really. It was every game this year that we took with its own merits and respected every opposition."
Canning also commiserated with the Waterford team, whose 58 year wait for their own All Ireland win goes on.
Galway’s Joe Canning celebrates after the game ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson
"So as we were all saying after, if there was ever a county that we didn't want to play in an All Ireland, it was kind of Waterford because they were in the same situation as we were for the last number of years. You don't get much joy in their defeat either so it's tough on the lads," he said.
"We've been there before, on two occasions with this group, well a few of the lads from '12 anyway. But it's just relief in the 29 year wait and it's great for the kids especially because they've got a new generation to look up to."
While a 29 year wait has been ended, Sunday's win puts Galway seventh on the all time list of All Ireland hurling champions with five triumphs, a long way behind rivals Kilkenny (36), Cork (30) and Tipperary (27), a point Canning alluded to.
"When you really delve into it and analyse it, this is only our fifth ever All Ireland in history. So it's not that we've a great tradition in years gone by of winning All Irelands and we then went on a drought for so long. We've only four All Irelands before yesterday, so people are funny to kind of criticise and maybe it was a kind of west of Ireland thing more so than anything and maybe because we had a little bit of success at Minor and Under-21 for the last few years but that doesn't guarantee success at senior level. You've seen down through the years, it's harder to do," he said, adding that Galway had come up against the best team of all time in Brian Cody's Kilkenny in past years as well as excellent Tipperary sides.
You can hear more of that interview on Off The Ball tonight where we'll also have analysis and reaction from the final.
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