John McIntyre reckons Galway have "something to build on" after pushing All-Ireland champions Kilkenny to the wire in Saturday night's thrilling Leinster SHC semi-final. "Any time you lose you're disappointed, that's what sport is all about, but that is as close as any team has got to Kilkenny in the last three years and that is something to build on," he enthused. "Kilkenny's experience and their composure in the last 20 minutes definitely gave them an edge because we had them on the ropes - maybe a few of our players took the wrong options at the wrong time. I am very proud of the Galway players. It was a noble effort." The Galway manager admitted that the game was won and lost in the final quarter when Kilkenny turned a five-point deficit into a five-point lead with a run of 10 unanswered points. "That's why they are All-Ireland champions," he continued. "That's why no team up to today has got close to them for three years. The reality is that it looked at one stage with three or four minutes to go that they might win by eight or 10, but in fairness to our lads, even reduced to 14 men, they got two points near the end. We will all learn from it, we have something to build on." Tweet

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