Kilkenny half-forward Walter Walsh pinpointed the Cats' relentless work rate as the key to eventually crushing Galway's All-Ireland dreams.
Galway were outstanding in the first half, but only led by three points at the break after TJ Reid goaled for Kilkenny on 13 minutes.
Upon the resumption, Brian Cody's men were a different animal as their intensity and power proved too much for the Tribesmen as they lifted their 36th All-Ireland senior hurling crown.
"I don’t think a word can describe how it feels. It’s just mind-blowing, brilliant," Walsh told RTÉ Sport afterwards.
"It took us a while to get going but a lot of that was down to the work rate of Galway, their forwards in particular were working so hard and making it so difficult for us.
"But in the second half it loosened up a bit and we got a few chances and took them chances."
Galway led by 0-14 to 1-08 at the break and Kilkenny were on the ropes. However it was a different story in the second period, the Cats driving on towards a 1-22 to 1-18 success.
"We were raring to get going after the half-time break, we knew we could pick it up a lot and we did that," added Walsh.
"The early scores definitely helped us. We just needed to work harder and harder in the first half and in the second half our work rate paid off in the end."
