Kilkenny let Galway come back from the dead

No matter how many times you warn yourself that Galway are unpredictable they still have the capacity to surprise. Pundits, their own supporters and above all Kilkenny were surprised yesterday in an extraordinary finale.

Just when you thought you had it cracked about what they were offering this season, as Kilkenny were running riot and getting stronger as the match headed to its finish; just when you might have felt it was safe to draw conclusions, everything changed.

Even after the goals had been flying in, Henry Shefflin looked like he'd saved the day by winning it for Kilkenny again but Joe Canning came back and kept Galway alive.

If someone had told you coming down to this match that Galway were going to score five goals, you'd have assumed that it was going to be one of those out-of-the blue famous victories. Although they didn't win it was encouraging for Anthony Cunningham that they showed spirit and looked a much more committed outfit than they'd shown at any stage last year.

Totally dominant

Kilkenny were totally dominant prior to the late fireworks and, though they couldn’t have been too happy with the overall display, which was ordinary enough, things were really beginning to run for them.

Some of the scores they had got – Tommy Walsh getting the score the Kilkenny crowd had been willing him to get against Offaly and Henry catching and being fouled for a free – were bringing the house down. Eoin Murphy made a smart puck-out for Aidan Fogarty's point.

They were, you’d have thought, well on the way to destroying Galway and leaving them in ruins for the rest of 2014. People were leaving at the back of the stand and there seemed no way back.

The one thing that was impressive about Galway though was that they weren't giving up. David Collins and Iarla Tannian fought manfully even when the match was sliding away from Galway. I remember Jason Flynn hitting a point at the end and I thought, 'well, at least he's one for the future' even if his score was futile.

Joe Canning’s intervention at the end capped a great performance. He worked hard all day and did superbly at centre forward in the first half, which was obvious in his catching of puck-outs, his clever distribution and the way he got his points.

Yet Galway couldn’t have been happy about the first half. Having played with the wind they had wasted chances and weren’t even ahead when they should have been.

I felt when the real pressure did come on in the second half, Galway seemed to be wilting physically. Andy Smith sailed close to the wind on occasion but brought energy and aggression to the team and when he had to go off, the game was turning against them.

Tommy Walsh was finding space as could be seen in superb delivery for TJ Reid's goal. Reid was creating havoc and Richie Hogan coming more and more into the game.

The half backs, particularly the superb Cillian Buckley and by this stage Jackie Tyrrell were taking control. The screw was turning.

The comeback came out of nothing effectively. There was no great build-up, no turning of the tide tactically but Jonathon Glynn’s performance under dropping ball was a key element.

We’re not used to seeing Kilkenny under pressure and dropping leads as opposed to pushing on and killing off opponents. They’re not the team they were but I felt they were impressive enough in their best passages of play.

Galway are still hard to assess because they didn’t put in a consistent performance. I’m not totally convinced by the comeback. Kilkenny let Galway back from the dead.

Brian Cody will know it would have been easier to beat them yesterday than have to do it again next week.

The danger for Kilkenny is that they have created a monster by not killing off Galway when they had the perfect chance to do so.