'Looking back, I don't know if I had any other option' - Galway's Padraic Mannion reflects on final play

Galway defender Padraic Mannion reckons there wasn't much he could have done differently in the fateful final play in his side's agonising one-point loss to Kilkenny in Sunday's Leinster SHC decider.

Leading by two points during a chaotic passage of play with time essentially up, several Galway players took a few panicked and tired swipes at clearing the ball near the Hogan Stand sideline, before John Donnelly whipped it back infield.

The ball broke to Mannion but, crucially, the 2018 Hurler of the Year nominee had lost his hurl earlier in the sequence. Needing to clear it from the danger zone, he instinctively drew a boot on the ball, sending it flying straight into the waiting paw of Cillian Buckley.

With ample time to process his options, the veteran Kilkenny replacement advanced to the 21, sidestepped TJ Brennan and fire a low shot past Eanna Murphy to win it with the final puck of the game.

Reflecting on the incident two days on, the experienced Mannion - a three-time All-Star in 2017, 2018 and 2022 - was in relatively philosophical mood.

"I don't know have I recovered or not but yeah, very disappointing," Mannion told RTÉ Sport on Tuesday.

"We were so close. We clawed it back very well.

"That's hurling, that's sport. And especially when you're playing Kilkenny, they're renowned for always being in the game. That's the way it goes.

"I connected well with it but the placement of it wasn't great, straight into Cillian Buckley's hand.

"I had no hurl. Even looking back, I don't know had I any other option really. He had positioned himself there and yeah... straight into his hand.

"Straight after, everyone was very, very disappointed. When you're in that position and the chance of getting silverware and getting straight into the