Waterford came so very close to knocking Kilkenny out of the All-Ireland, but in the end, they came up short by the narrowest of margins.
The Deise suffered a devastating 2-19 to 2-17 defeat to the hurling behemoths in their All-Ireland semi-final replay at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
They gave it they’re all, they played their hearts out and they made it one of the most captivating sporting events of the year, but Kilkenny were just too damn good.
VIDEO: Kilkenny fan stopping to console distraught Pauric Mahony is everything the GAA should be https://t.co/jFm7nI3N3X
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 13, 2016
Pauric Mahony had a chance to bring the game to extra time in the 11th hour, but his free dropped agonisingly short. Richie Hogan was then on hand to add the final nail and seal the victory for Kilkenny.
Waterford star Austin Gleeson told Sky Sports that he believes these little moments going against Waterford had a huge impact on the result.
“Pauric’s (Mahony) free near the end and, Jesus, how Eoin Murphy got up to catch that ball, I’ll never know. Pauric couldn’t have hit that any better. Maybe they got a bit of luck and a couple of balls that went over the bar and we didn’t and look, we gave it our all, but it was not good enough in the end.”
Gleeson had an exceptional game, scoring 1-02 as a commanding presence in the middle third, but he was left devastated at the final whistle. Despite the bitter taste of defeat still swilling around his palate, Gleeson had some kind words to say about the Cats directly after the game.
“It just shows the calibre of players they are in Kilkenny. There’s a reason why they’re the kingpins of hurling. They’re just a phenomenal team. Whoever wins tomorrow’s semi-final has some task ahead of them against that team and look, we gave it our all for 150, 155, 160 minutes, it just wasn’t enough. I don’t know what else to say.”
You’ve said enough, Austin. You’ve said enough.
