3 things we learned

Galway may have “won” the draw

He certainly had the grounds to claim a sense of injustice with the legitimacy of the free Joe Canning scored to give Galway another day out. But Brian Cody opted not to play it up afterwards. Was it because he was a little embarrassed by his remonstrations with Barry Kelly and heated words with Anthony Cunningham after the injury-time free was given? The photographs in The Irish Examiner this morning don’t paint either manager in an altogether positive light and both would be known for their calmness on the line. Interestingly, afterwards Cunningham claimed Galway had the psychological edge going into the September 30 replay. To be fair to him, Galway did fight back in the second-half when the momentum was clearly against them and they seemed to forget all the tactics they had been using to beat Kilkenny. Canning’s equalising free was the last glove laid in yesterday’s bout and the fact Galway grabbed two goals — keeping up their average of two per championship game this year — and kept James Skehill’s net untouched are major positives.

Kilkenny surely won’t be as bad again