Goodbye summer. Michael Coleman held the front door as the Galway dressing-room emptied behind him. Sticks, bags and players evaporating out through the backdoor as a cold breeze blew through the place. Coleman spoke softly. On bad days there isn't much to say.

"It's a sickening defeat," he said, shifting from one foot to another uneasily. "We had great confidence at half time. We were sitting on a nine-point lead and we went out and our lead vanished in 10 minutes."

He stands and stares blankly at the gathered circle of tape recorders. Nobody can think of a question which won't sound stupid. Everybody wishes that machines could record Coleman's solemn features.

"It's hard to put a finger on where it all went wrong," he says when he starts up again. "I think the match practice paid for Kilkenny. They were in trouble today and they didn't panic, they knew what they were capable of. "They've had a Leinster championship and a league game since the Leinster championship. The last league game we played was a couple of months ago. It's hard for us to warm up for the championship. Thanks."

And he turns and joins the rest of the squad outside. Cold in July.

The dressing-room is empty already, except for the two brothers from Beagh. The Gantleys are bundling the maroon, which their father wore, back into their kitbags and speaking softly between themselves.

Finbarr Gantley had just made his championship debut in a combat zone. He came under heavy fire during a jazzed first 10 minutes when Charlie Carter turned him a couple of times, but he stuck to his task and emerged with much credit. Small consolation.

"I'm just sitting thinking to myself that we had a nine-point lead at half time. We lost it. They were making space. They were running all over the shop stretching us at the back. We scored 3-16. You have to hand it to a team that beats you on a day like that."

Early in the second half, Finbarr Gantley realised what trouble was. He offered up a full statement detailing his whereabouts at all times.

"The puc outs were coming down at our full-back line almost. DJ was doing a lot of damage and John Power broke a lot of ball when he came in. They found out a lot about themselves from the last day. They had Pat O' Neill at centre back and he was a big influence. "I was following Charlie. He was hard to pick up at times. He's very intelligent off the ball, he was making space for DJ outside and DJ was running in the spaces. The goals they got were tap ins and they should have been cleared, the fault there would be with the fullback line. "The last goal was very soft, it seemed to bounce off DJ's hand. Maybe we were short of match practice, but you can't make excuses. They deserved to win."

Last words? The feeling in the Galway dressing-room from Phelim Murphy to Finbarr Gantley was that Kilkenny could well be this year's All-Ireland champions. Not many teams get to roll back the rock twice in a summer without being charmed.

"They could have died today," said Gantley. "They were down nine points at half time having lost a Leinster final in their last big game. They could have let the self-doubt get the better of them.

"It's an advantage if you use it the way you should. They could win the All-Ireland now. They'll have improved and found out a bit more. Carey, well you saw him. Give him space and he'll kill you."

He picked up his gear and, still shell-shocked, went off with the TV people to tell it all again.