‘Have to take that one on the chin’ – Kilkenny’s Derek Lyng philosophical after Galway steal point

But Kilkenny made light of the absence of Eoin Murphy, Adrian Mullen, Eoin Cody and Mikey Carey and it took two late points from Galway deep in stoppage time to ensure a share of the spoils after a contest in Pearse Stadium that grew in intensity.

“I knew ever more so what Kilkenny were going to bring because people had the narrative that they're down a few and this was Galway's game,” said Shefflin.

“That's dangerous, as we know, with the quality of the Kilkenny players. We wanted to approach it in our way. I thought, for phases, we did play our game, but that's the way these matches go. There's swings and roundabouts.”

His side will now head to Wexford next Saturday with three points in the bag, but they will do so without corner-back Darren Morrissey, who is set for a spell on the sideline after dislocating his shoulder in an awkward fall.

Shefflin knows they will need to step up a gear as well. They looked set for defeat when TJ Reid landed his eighth point of the contest to put two between them as the game headed into stoppage time.

Then Reid was pinged for overcarrying after making a superb catch and Evan Niland, who made a huge impact after coming on, landed the free from distance out on the right to cut the gap to one.

There was time for one final play and Galway, beaten by a last-gasp goal in the Leinster final last season, made it count with skipper Conor Whelan, who had earlier hit five wides, maintaining his composure to steer over the equaliser from 55 metres.

“Ah, it is, lookit, they go your way sometimes and don’t and that one didn’t go our way,” said Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng when asked about Reid being penalised. “So, it was a crucial one, but look, just have to take that one on the chin.”

It was Galway, who opted to play against the wind in the opening half, and did most of the early running but trailed by 0-16 to 1-9 at the break after Kilkenny finished the half strongly.

The Tribesmen were good value for their 0-4 to 0-1 lead after seven minutes, with two points from Cathal Mannion and one apiece from Brian Concannon and Cianan Fahy, with both sides operating two-man full-forward lines.

It took Kilkenny until the end of the first quarter to get back on level terms when they hit three points in a row to tie the game at 0-7 apiece before Keoghan, who hit 0-4 in the first half, edged Kilkenny in front for the first time.

But then Galway struck for a goal. Whelan fed Brian Concannon, who set up his cousin Cathal Mannion, but rather than pick off an easy point, he threaded the ball across and Gavin Lee found the net for the second week in a row with a low shot to the left corner.

Earlier, new Kilkenny goalkeeper Aidan Tallis did well to save from Mannion and they responded well to the concession of the goal, with TJ Reid and Keoghan drawing them level with points.

Galway only managed two points after their 19th-minute goal to half-time, with Kilkenny taking control, and with Keoghan, John Donnelly and the midfield pairing of Cian Kenny and Richie Reid dominant, they hit without reply to lead by 0-16 to 1-9 at the interval.

The sides exchanged points three times in the opening six minutes of the second half before Galway got a break when Tallis batted down a long ball from Cooney and Brian Concannon pounced for a goal.

Whelan tied the sides immediately afterwards for the fifth time and they were still level at 2-16 to 0-22 after 51 minutes before Kilkenny hit four in a row before Galway rallied again after drafting Johnny Glynn off the bench for his first championship action since 2019.

Glynn almost produced a match-winning goal, but Tallis did superbly to deny him from close range and it was left to Niland and Whelan to rescue Galway.

“It’s not an easy place to come and play, so really happy, with the panel, to be honest,” added Lyng. “It was a panel performance. Look, we’ll have competition, but we are going to need it.”

“Really happy with how we performed throughout the whole game that way. I thought our application was good. I thought lads were just attacking the ball and that work rate all over and the guys that came in then had an impact.”

SCORERS - Galway: E Niland 0-7 (0-6f); G Lee 1-2; C Mannion 0-5; B Concannon 1-1; C Whelan 0-3; C Cooney 0-3 (0-2f, ’65); C Fahy 0-2. Kilkenny: TJ Reid 0-8 (0-6f, ’65); J Donnelly, M Keoghan 0-4 each; T Phelan, C Kenny 0-3 each; R Reid, J Molloy 0-2 each; B Ryan, M Butler, D Blanchfield 0-1 each.

GALWAY: D Fahy 7; D Morrissey 7, F Burke 7, P Mannion 7; S Linnane 6, C Fahy 8, Daithi Burke 6; R Glennon 7, David Burke 6; G Lee 8, T Monaghan 6, B Concannon 6; C Mannion 8, C Cooney 6, C Whelan 7. Subs: J Grealish 6 for Morrissey (28), E Niland 8 for Monaghan (42), J Glynn 5 for Concannon (58), J Cooney 5 for David Burke (58), J Flynn 5 for Lee (69).

KILKENNY: A Tallis 7; M Butler 7, H Lawlor 7, T Walsh 6; D Blanchfield 7, P Deegan 6, S Murphy 6; C Kenny 7, R Reid 8; M Keoghan 8, J Donnelly 8, T Phelan 6; B Ryan 6, TJ Reid 7, L Hogan 6. Subs: O Wall 6 for Hogan (42), J Molloy 7 for Ryan (48), D Corcoran 5 for R Reid (72), G Dunne 5 for Keoghan (72).

REFEREE: T Walsh (Waterford).