Round 3 of the Leinster Championship ended Galway 1-24, Kilkenny 3-17.
Galway played with the wind in the 1st half and made the most of it, pointing 3 scores within 2 minutes.
Kilkenny matched them in intensity though and within 10 minutes, Eoin Cody netted after the ref played advantage when the Ballyhale man was held back.
Tj Reid showed he was human after all when he missed a straightforward free, right in front of goal.
Cody and Walsh were on fire in the opening minutes.
The Kilkenny forwards in general looked way more dangerous in the inside line than Galway did.
The cats may have been sharper in the normal run of play but Galway made hay with placed balls.
A beautiful sideline cut from Fintan Burke proved why he’s one of the top hurlers in the country.
Eoin Murphy got caught coming out with the ball to give a short pass and was lucky that the turnover only resulted in a point.
Halfway through the first half, TJ stepped up to take his second free of the day from much further out and popped it over with ease, signifying that normal service had resumed.
Their run continued as Billy Ryan hit the back of the net after Eoin Cody who had been given loads of space, set him up.
TJ Reid who lined out at no.14 was playing extremely deep and was often spotted in the Kilkenny full back line.
Galway were undecided on how to deal with that which resulted in a lot of space being given to the cats upfront.
They got the basics right though and only registered their 1st wide after 20 minutes.
It was a difficult first half for Kilkenny all-star keeper Eoin Murphy whose short passes twice resulted in turnovers which in turn resulted in scores for the Tribesmen.
Kilkenny continued to work hard, blocking,hooking, and hunting in packs but at halftime, they still found themselves 6 points down.
At the break, the scoreboard read Kilkenny 2-8, Galway 1-17
2nd Hallf
Kilkenny fans were left in shock when it was announced that former hurler of the year, TJ Reid had been withdrawn from the game.
To make matters worse for the cats,Conor Whelan could be seen on the sideline adjusting his red helmet, getting ready to come on.
Galway made the better start to the second half, winning battles all around the field.
Walter Walsh had a superb performance, with some lovely interceptions and 3 points from play.
After 15 minutes Cianan Fahy made way for the all-star hurler, Conor Whelan.
Both Cody and his understudy, Cody were living on their nerves when after 50 minutes only one point separated the teams.
The ever-reliable Eoin Cody then leveled it up after 55 minutes.
However, it wasn’t long before Brian Kilcannon put Galway back in front after finally getting a break and popping over a point.
With 3 minutes left to be played and as many points between the teams, John Donnelly was the hero when he hit the net for the cats.
Kilkenny hearts were broken though when Conor Cooney struck over a point from a placed ball in the dying seconds of injury time.
The full-time score in Pearse Stadium was Galway 1-24, Kilkenny 3-17.
