Conor Whelan: Henry Shefflin still the best man to continue rebuilding a new-look Galway squad

Galway's championship season was again ended by the Shannonsiders at the last-four stage of the Liam MacCarthy race.

In a game where the Tribes were outstanding for the opening 25 minutes, building up a six-point lead, Limerick's power play came to the fore therafter as they went on to record a nine-point victory.

Four weeks previously, Shefflin's side looked like ending a five-year wait for a Leinster title, only for Cillian Buckley's last-gasp goal denied them at the death.

Assessing those losses, Whelan, who was named PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month, told RTÉ Sport: "We went in at half-time against Limerick in a decent position; we felt we could have been in a better position. We went out in the second half feeling confident but we lost some momentum and they got a run on us.

"Limerick are an absolutely outstanding team, massive credit to them on the day and it's something we'll spend the winter coming to terms with."

As for the heartache against the Cats, the Kinvara clubman added: "Any time a goal like that goes in you'd be disappointed. We don't have anyone to blame only ourselves. A goal that was one in a 100 but it's not something I'd dwell on as much.

"We had three or four chances before that to extend it to a four, five-point game. That's the winning and the losing of the game. In every game there are periods where you have a purple patch and then the opposition has a purple patch.

"We're still very much a team in transition and that day was a massive learning for us. We have to learn to maximise our purple patches and then try to minimise the opposition as much as possible. It's something we'll have to focus on going back next year."

In expanding more on the transitionary phase, Whelan referenced the likes of Johnny