This was an unbelievably scrappy game and, for a long time, it looked like it was going to be a draw. Galway just about deserved to win it in the end, but I think that both sides were under tremendous pressure and never really got going the way they would have liked.

A part of that had to do with the size of the pitch. Players were being closed down at an alarming rate and found it hard to find the space to break open the play. Still, I was quite surprised to see Galway come out and dominate the first 10 minutes in the way that they did. They were supposed to be the team without match practice, but they very quickly had Tipperary under an awful lot of pressure.

But, for all that domination, they were only ahead by five points when it could have been a whole lot more. Tipperary were forced to make wholesale changes and, for the most part, they worked. Suddenly, it was Tipperary who were on a roll and Galway seemed to drift out of the game.

Joe Rabbitte wasn't quite bubbling at his best and, for a while, the Galway forwards couldn't get much going. So the first half ended up being quite even in terms of possession and winning of the ball. Galway got two crucial points just before the break which mentally I think were very important and meant they were under less pressure coming out for the second half.

Overall, I thought the second half was most peculiar. It was so dour and uncompromising at times, and that was more to do with both teams being afraid to lose, rather than going out to try and win it.

Rabbitte started coming into the game a bit more and laid off some very good balls and I think the introduction of Kevin Broderick and Joe Cooney also helped settle things for Galway. Otherwise, they were quite unhurried in the way they moved the ball and, overall, I didn't think the Galway forwards linked particularly well as a unit.

But the number of wides from both teams was quite ridiculous. It can't all be blamed on nerves and, from that point of view, Galway have a lot to improve upon on this performance.

Tipperary were unlucky to lose John Leahy, but that's the nature of the game and you have to be able to take your setbacks. With Declan Ryan already gone, it meant Tipperary were having problems in that area and were forced to bring Tomas Dunne back out from the attack. We saw both teams make full use of the five substitutions which goes to show how important it is to have depth in panels in the modern game.

I was a bit surprised to see Eoin Kelly come in for Tipperary, but he picked off a good point and he's now been blooded for future championships. And it shows as well that Tipperary are still in a youth development phase. It may have been reasonably exciting towards the end, but the quality of hurling was still generally poor. I felt Paul Shelley's first touch was not up to his usual standard and the number of times players were blocked down was remarkable.

Cathal Moore was particularly effective in Galway's defence and I thought Rory Gantley was probably the best midfielder on display. But off the pace were Ollie Canning and Fergal Healy, who were both such consistent scorers in the league.

Of course, Mattie Murphy will be happy that his side are in an All-Ireland semi-final no matter how they got there. They've got one championship game behind them now and it certainly makes for an interesting clash with Kilkenny.

I was a lot more entertained by the Offaly and Derry match. Derry played direct hurling from the start and they showed little respect for Offaly and a lot of respect for their Ulster title. They have showed they can no longer be regarded as just pushovers.

Eventually, Offaly had to bring on the likes of Joe Dooley and Joe Errity to keep them afloat and, in the end, I think Johnny Dooley's performance was the difference between winning and losing.

Still, the way Offaly are playing at the moment I can't see them doing anything special against Cork. Derry did make it hard for them and were unlucky to lose Oliver Collins before the end. They also missed a couple of crucial frees towards the end. Otherwise, we could have witnessed one of the great shocks of the championship.