Kilkenny hero Buckley thought the game was gone

Kilkenny match-winner Cillian Buckley admitted that he thought the game was beyond his side before he stepped up to hit a stunning goal with the final puck of the ball, as the Cats beat Galway to win the Leinster title.

Galway held a two-point lead with just seconds left in added time at Croke Park before Buckley struck to break their hearts after a rushed kicked clearance by Galway defender Padraic Mannion sent the sliotar straight to an unmarked Buckley who found the bottom corner of the net.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Buckley underlined just how much the goal and the title meant to him, adding that to scoring the winner in Croke Park was a "dream come true".

He said: "I don’t get into that position too often, I knew there was only a few seconds late and being honest I looked for a pass. I looked again and it wasn't on. I shot, and I’ll call it a shot, and I managed to get it in.

"Talk about special moments. To do that for your team, among your team and to win the Leinster final, it's just savage, it’s a dream come true.

"It opens up the year for us now and we're over the moon in there, Leinster champions. For what it does for us now, it's just savage.

"We came here to win silverware today, to win our provincial championship to win the Bob O’Keefe.

"We'll celebrate that today and but yeah look no doubt about it there's benefits to the four-week run in to a semi-final.

"But a Leinster medal? You’ll never turn you back on it and that will definitely be celebrated first."

GOAL KILKENNY - Cillian Buckley with the last, dramatic act of the game snatches victory for Kilkenny in the Leinster final. The Cats win 4-21 to 2-26 ⌨️Updates: https://t.co/SrTqTcm8O4