Limerick 2-24 Galway 1-18: Tribesmen 'down and upset' after semi-final defeat - Henry Shefflin

Galway manager Henry Shefflin admitted the players were "down and upset" after bowing out of the All-Ireland Hurling semi-finals for the second year in a row with defeat by Limerick.

The Tribesmen led by six points after 25 minutes but faded as the holders ran out dominant 2-24 to 1-18 winners.

"We felt this year that we were in a better place to approach this game," Shefflin told BBC Sport NI.

"To not perform to the level for the last 40 minutes was disappointing."

He added: "They [the players] are very down and upset. They put an awful lot into this. They really believed they could do something with this but it was grasped from our hands."

Galway, without an All-Ireland title since 2017, rattled the holders as Cathal Mannion's brilliant first-half goal helped Shefflin's men establish a six-point lead.

• Watch Kilkenny v Clare in second All-Ireland semi-final on Sunday

However, Limerick came roaring back into the game at Croke Park as Aaron Gillane's two goals set up a fourth successive final for the Munster champions.

When asked to assess where he is at with Galway at the end of a second year in charge, Shefflin said: "It'll take me a couple of days to reflect on that. I think the relationship between the players and management is definitely stronger and that's important in sport.

"We're obviously not good enough to be All-Ireland winners at the moment and that's disappointing. The Leinster final [loss to Kilkenny] was a big blow for ourselves.

"We had a good win in the [All-Ireland] quarter-final [against Tipperary] but we've come up short, very short today and that's very disappointing as well."

The semi-final defeat is another blow for Shefflin's Galway side having also lost the Leinster final to Kilkenny

Shefflin, a 10-time All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny, added: "We couldn't wrestle the game back. It felt like we played the game on our terms in the first 25 minutes but it was all on Limerick's terms after that. When you're doing that you're in a losing battle.

"We knew they would have a purple patch but we felt we could respond to that. We never got to the pitch with that response, maybe we expended too much energy in the first 25 minutes, I don't know.

"Limerick had the four weeks off and it took them some time to get up but once they did they were absolutely phenomenal. Their use of the ball and their hunger and desire was evident throughout the field."

'Leinster final may be the killer' - Cahill

Speaking after full-time, Tipperary manager and BBC Sport NI pundit Liam Cahill said the Leinster final defeat may be a "killer" for Shefflin.

"There will be no-one more hurt than Henry," said Cahill.

"It's a long spin up to Galway from Kilkenny for training. He's done incredibly well with these lads.

"If I roll it right back, the Leinster final defeat is a killer in this instance for Henry. If he had gotten over the line in the Leinster final, it mightn't look as bad as it is today.

"But look, two years in, you have to be delivering silverware and no-one knows that better than myself in the role I'm in with Tipperary as well."

While Shefflin and the Galway players will conduct a post-mortem on a second successive All-Ireland semi-final loss, Limerick can look forward to a fourth straight final and a fifth in six years as they look to match Kilkenny and Cork as the only counties to win four Liam MacCarthy Cups in a row.

Limerick boss John Kiely admitted his side had to show "great patience and calmness" in the face of Galway's flying start.

"Galway got off to a flyer and had us in a bit of bother with their puck-out," said Kiely.

"They were getting a lot of joy and possession off it. They were creating good scoring opportunities off that.

"We had to adjust and trust the players to get it right and they did, I think experience shone through, we were able to get the positioning right and push on from there."

On reaching a fourth final in a row, Kiely added: "All we've ever wanted was to give ourselves opportunities. We've worked hard all season and we have two weeks to work hard and to put our best foot forward and hopefully it'll be good enough."