Galway manager Henry Shefflin says his players did themselves proud today despite going down to Limerick in a three-point defeat.

The Treaty men advanced to their third straight All-Ireland SHC final with a 0-27 to 1-21 victory but were pushed all the way at Croke Park, where crucial scores in the closing stages got them over the line against the Tribesmen.

Speaking to GAA.ie afterwards, Shefflin said while the result was “very disappointing”, he could noy fault his players’ performance.

"We speak a lot about - especially coming up against such hot favourites - about getting a performance," said the Kilkenny legend.

"I would have spoken about that myself. That is what was needed. Then you get the performance and you don't get the result. Sport is cruel and you feel the same gutted nature. It is very disappointing.

"You give it absolutely everything. Then it is just all over and you come up a bit short. There were a lot of what ifs and buts.

"From a management point of view and from a group point of view we said we wanted to do ourselves proud on the field today. I think we achieved that."

On the opposition, he added: "To be fair to Limerick they are true champions, we really went at them. It was only that last phase - their bench made a bit of an impact, they pulled away a little bit.

"The shooting, and I haven't looked at the numbers yet because numbers don't matter when it is all over. I am sure the shooting efficiency will be low."

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