Kilkenny boss Brian Cody has praised his charges for the reaction they produced against Galway in the second half of their Leinster SHC replay defeat.
Cody's side looked to be facing a real crisis in Semple Stadium after the defending champions surged into an 11-point lead before the 20th minute of the clash, but a Ger Aylward goal just before half-time injected some life in to the Kilkenny challenge and inspired them to stage a comeback.
Further goals from substitutes Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly helped Kilkenny to reduce the gap to a point before Galway pulled away once more before the end to claim a second consecutive Leinster crown.
"I'd be disappointed with how we played in the first half," Cody told RTÉ Sport after the game.
"We gave ourselves kind of a mountain to climb but the reaction of the lads in the second half was excellent playing against the best team in the country essentially.
"We pulled a big lead back to two points. It's hugely difficult to keep that going in weather like this and a day like today after playing last Sunday.
"They pulled away again a small bit at the end. We're obviously disappointed not to win the game because it's why we came up here but at the same time from my own point of view, I would give the lads great praise for their reaction and the way they stood up, took on the challenge in front of them and fought to the end."
Kilkenny won't have long to heal from this defeat as they prepare to face an All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Limerick next Sunday, meaning they will be playing championship hurling for the third weekend in-a-row.
Limerick were also in action this weekend as they brushed Carlow aside in their preliminary quarter-final on Saturday which gives them an extra day to recover for the tie compared to Kilkenny.
Cody accepts that many people will believe that the Shannonsiders will be slightly better rested for the meeting, but he insists that his team will prepare accordingly in the time that they have.
"Once the ball is thrown in it's up to ourselves to cut that advantage they may have from the point of view of rest and everything, and just get on with it.
"Both days were very warm weather and tough going [against Galway], it's fairly exhausting. But we'll recover and we're prepared to settle right for playing another match to get to the All-Ireland semi-final. If we had won today we'd be in the semi-final.
"Win next weekend and we're in the semi-finals.How difficult is it going to be? Hugely difficult, we're playing a team that are many people's favourites to be the ones of possibly winning an All-Ireland final.
"We know the quality they have and it's going to be very difficult but it's a great challenge to be faced with. We'll dust ourselves off and recovery is everything now. It's going to take a few days for the lads to recover but they well because they're in great shape."
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