The senior All-Ireland hurling semi-final had a lot to live up to.
And to be fair it never really got close to matching the drama of the curtain raiser at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon as the Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor champions Kilkenny salvaged a draw against Galway in a game that ended 2-20 to 0-26 after extra time.
The game was electric from the very off as Galway’s defensive tactics crowded the Kilkenny attack to lead by 0-7 to 0-3 by the midway point of the first half, before Andrew Gaffney, who ended the 80 minutes with 0-10 of his sides total, scored three frees to bring his side back into the contest.
Galway used their corner forward as a sweeper, but the champions got a on grip on the game and were level at 0-7 each after 24 minutes before Galway snagged two late scores to lead by two at the interval.
There was three minutes of additional time at the end of the first half as Kilkenny’s All-Ireland winning captain Darragh Joyce took a knock to the head but he was able to resume his place on the field.
Kilkenny, as they did in extra time, then took over after half time and looked on course to dispose of the Galway challenge after hitting five consecutive points to move three in front until the first of Galway’s seismic interventions.
Centre forward Thomas Monaghan was lively throughout the game, and he popped up with the game’s first dramatic score when his goal made it a level game again after 49 minutes
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That strike rocked Kilkenny but only momentarily as the man of the match Richie Leahy, who was superb and scored 0-4 in total, grabbed a point and the Cats looked like they had won it after a long range strike from Conor Hennessy.
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However Monaghan wasn’t to be denied and he had the wristwork and the speed to evade the Kilkenny cover to slot over a wonderful point to send the game to extra time at 1-15 to 0-18 with just seconds left
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Kilkenny shot out of the traps at the beginning of extra time and hit six points in a row to give them a huge advantage at the break with Galway only managing two late points in response.
However those scores proved crucial as Cian Salmon netted in the second period to leave just a point between the sides before Liam Forde and a huge free from Evan Niland left supporters of both steams stunned.
But Pat Hoban’s side kept their cool and when Gaffney had a chance to equalise with a placed ball he didn’t miss to set up another day out for both sides after a thrilling encounter.
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