Henry Shefflin and Derek Lyng have their say on late TJ Reid incident

Henry Shefflin hailed his Galway side’s character as Conor Whelan fired a late equaliser at Pearse Stadium this afternoon.

Whelan, whose ball winning was incredible all day, shot over the bar in the 75th minute to secure a hard fought Leinster round robin point for his side.

Galway trailed by four points on the hour mark, but won the last 15 minutes by 0-6 to 0-2

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“No different to last year’s performance in Nowlan Park,” said Shefflin of last year’s Leinster group stage draw between the sides.

“I know this group now. This is my third year here, so I know that they very much want it and they try very hard. That’s what they did again today.

“To be fair to our group - and we have a very strong group - they never threw in the towel and they kept coming.

“It always felt like we had a chance of coming back and for that, we are delighted and it feels like we’re starting the Championship again now.

“After two rounds there have been some upsets and we’re all pretty level. We look forward to Round 3.”

Kilkenny boss Derek Lyng felt an overcarrying call against TJ Reid in the 74th minute with his side two points ahead should have been a free the other way.

“Ah it is,” he said. “Lookit, they go your way sometimes and they don’t and that one didn’t go our way.

“So, it was a crucial one, but look just have to take that one on the chin.”

Shefflin was non-commital on the free awarded against his former club and county team mate.

“I thought it was a wonderful catch first of all. He went up into the clouds.

“I thought Thomas Walsh (the referee) did a very good job, to be fair. I haven't watched the match back yet.

“To be fair to Evan, he put it over the bar and scored it very well. These come in swings and roundabouts.”

New York based Johnny Glynn (30) was almost the returning hero as he battled hard under a high ball on 67 minutes, but didn’t catch his shot off the ground properly and Aidan Tallis made the save.

It was Glynn’s first Championship action since Galway’s shock 2019 Leinster round robin exit at the hands of Dublin at Parnell Park - all of five years ago.

Galway were dealt a blow on 29 minutes when cornerback Darren Morrissey fell hard on his shoulder and was forced out of the play with a nasty looking injury that puts his summer in doubt.

“Unfortunately, it's a dislocated shoulder and he was in a lot of pain,” said Shefflin.

“He was still in a lot of pain at half-time. I didn't see the incident back.

“Johnny has embedded himself very well into the group. We just felt there was no point in him coming back if he couldn't offer something.

“We very much feel he can offer something. We do know as well, it's a quick turnaround again.

“Carlow, today - in six days' time we go to Wexford. We're going to test our panel with Darren's injury and stuff.

“But we feel we have a strong group so we'll be trying players as we go along.”

Evan Niland made a huge impact off the bench, hitting seven points from seven shots - including six from frees - in just 27 minutes on the field, after Conor Cooney had missed two frees.

But Shefflin says he wasn’t just brought in for the dead balls: “He's a very good free-taker but he's a very good forward.

“We just felt we needed something up front. To be fair to Evan, he's been performing very well.

“He's been putting in a big shift in training over the last number of weeks.

“We've asked different things of his game and probably asked him to change things a little bit and he is doing that.”

Overall, Derek Lyng’s side made light of the injury enforced absences of key Ballyhale forward duo Eoin Cody and Adrian Mullen.