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.
"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 semi-finals, it's a great opportunity. Obviously, we're going to be very disappointed. But we've shown great resilience so far and it's not going to change from now on.
"Such small margins. I know it came down to the last ball. But there's other little things that happened in the game that you'd be thinking, 'oh if we did this or this or if this didn't happen'... You're just trying to look at it back and pick small bits (out) here or there and try and improve."
For the second year running, Galway are bound for an All-Ireland quarter-final, at which stage they eked out a narrow victory over Cork in a somewhat bizarre game in Semple Stadium last year.
Their likeliest opponents are a Tipperary side - assuming they navigate the challenge of Joe McDonagh Cup finalists Offaly in Tullamore next weekend - still smarting from their limp display in their last Munster SHC game at home to an already eliminated Waterford.
While Galway's run to an All-Ireland final is considerably more daunting than it might have been, the westerners' have a strong recent history against Tipp, having ended their title defence in the last championship meeting between the sides in a behind-closed-doors quarter-final in the Gaelic Grounds in 2020.
"Two weeks is probably a nice gap," says Mannion. "You've time to have a day or two off. And just try and get over the game.
"The game is coming soon enough and it'll take your attention fairly quick. It's a good excuse to be able to move on from Sunday.
"You're not drastically going to change anything in two weeks. You just to need to add a few percent here or there and hopefully that'll be enough to improve you and get you over the line the next day."
Though Galway's form in the less demanding Leinster round robin had been deemed fitful, in particular their wildly uneven display in their final group game against Dublin, Mannion is adamant the team have it within themselves to go the distance.
"If I didn't think we had the capabilities I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be playing, I don't think. I'd say everyone that's there thinks they are good enough to go and do it. That's why it's so entertaining and so good.
"Everyone in our squad and our management team thinks we're good enough to go and do it."
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