Galway  1-25

Kilkenny 0-28

OFTEN there’s a sense of anti-climax after a big championship match ends in stalemate, but not on this occasion.

For Galway hurlers managed to salvage a result from a game which looked gone from them. And to do it against Kilkenny in their own backyard only adds substance to the achievement.

An unlikely hero was the toast of Galway supporters on Saturday evening after substitute Declan McLoughlin landed a sensational equaliser from the left-hand sideline in the seventh minute of additional time.

Not alone was the young Portumna clubman making his championship debut – he had only been introduced in the dying embers of the regulation 70 minutes – but McLoughlin’s winning score came with virtually his first touch of the sliotar at this level. A classic sporting fairytale.

It was an outcome Galway deserved if only for their admirable grit down the home stretch. They had been in dire straits, trailing by five and six points at different stages of the second half, but the men in maroon were not prepared to lie down or surrender.

No wonder new Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng articulated his “frustration” over only drawing this round-robin Leinster championship tie. Losing a significant lead on their home soil will sting the Cats and is not in the county’s DNA. They had Galway on the ropes, but were punished for some careless shooting late on.

Galway, however, hit some shocking wides themselves, mostly when struggling for traction for much of a troubled third quarter. They were blown away after half-time as Kilkenny surged into a 0-24 to 1-15 lead by the 52nd minute despite facing the wind.

The teams had been level at the break (0-16 to 1-13) with Galway creating some wonderfully executed points – they had an incredible 14 scorers in total – on a day man-of-the-match Brian Concannon had his finest-ever outing for the county.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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