For all the clamour that follows Joe Canning's marvellous goal, a Galway defeat followed because of superior performances by many more Kilkenny than Galway men.

This is established fact.

Canning's gathering of Portumna club-mate Andrew Smith's 80-metre lob was finished in the same spinning movement. It was beautiful and left Kilkenny captain Joey Holden flailing.

The same Kilkenny captain who Brian Cody identified as a crucial component in ensuring TJ Reid, down the other end, rather than Canning, was this Leinster final's dominant scorer.

Reid finished with 1-9 to Canning’s 1-8, but the Ballyhale Shamrocks attacker had 1-3 to Canning’s 1-1 from play.

"Joe Canning is just an outstanding hurler, he got a great goal, there is no doubt about that, but I thought Joey Holden for us had a great game at fullback," said Cody.

Canning was eventually moved out the field. Nor did he register a score from play in the last 10 minutes.

“Every day you go out you are taking on these top-class players from other counties,” Cody continued. “The same they are doing with us, it’s a challenge, and in a split second these guys can score. That’s the reality of Joe and the rest of these players but it’s not just an individual thing, it’s a team thing and everybody working together. That’s what we try to do.”

Workrate

Galway manager

Anthony Cunningham

, while hardly lambasting his players after believing they almost overturned the All-Ireland champions, did make a salient point about workrate. Or lack thereof.

“We drove on and got a goal after half-time, but when we were in the driving seat we managed to concede one or two simple scores,” said Cunningham.

“[Not] conceding scores is also [about] forwards and half-forwards and midfield working right back.”

Canning's moment of excellence won't, but it should, pale in comparison to the second- half industry of Richie Hogan who delivered three points from play when switched to midfield.

Or the late ruthlessness of Eoin Larkin. Or the electrical volts coursing through Reid's wrist over the entire 70 minutes.

Cody's team ethic trumps everything else. Kieran Joyce shipped a ferociously heavy blow from Jonny Glynn in the opening minutes, while Jackie Tyrrell was replaced not long after Jason Flynn's goal as the younger attacker took him into open country under the Hogan stand,

But there are multiple examples of how the suffocating Kilkenny defence guaranteed a seventieth provincial title.

Cillian Buckley in particular stood out for high praise. "I think he is one of the most consistent fellas around but today I thought he was absolutely magnificent," said Cody. "His performances don't dip. Top class attitude to the game and continues to deliver the goods."

They all do.

Still, Cunningham will spend the next three weeks accentuating the positives of this Galway showing. The process has already begun in earnest.

“Overall there was very little in it with a few chances we were unlucky not to take. I thought our backs did very well for very long spells of the game.

“Kilkenny are a class act. Everyone knows that.

“They are All-Ireland champions but we are very, very close to them.

"If you look at the performances of Johnny Glynn, Iarla Tannian, Daithí Burke, Cyril Donnellan, Johnny Coen, huge performances for us. A huge amount to build on."

Positives

Cunningham is seeing more positives than negatives. “Absolutely. There is very, very little difference between us and the top team in the country. Very little difference.

"We'd be pushing hard for the Galway supporters to come out and drive this team on, as there is something to build on. You know, the performance of Pádraig Mannion there, John Hanbury, new players coming into the team at a very top level. They're a fantastic team coming on.

“Very little difference between winning and losing there.”

So little it's suggested that maybe Galway are a superior outfit to the team that ransacked Kilkenny in the 2012 Leinster final, only to lose that September's All-Ireland final replay.

“I think so,” Cunningham replied. “Definitely with the batch of new players coming in, they have bedded in very well, Cathal, Daithí Burke, Jason, even the guys who would be a bit disappointed with their performance out there today, have huge contributions to make.”

So another rematch come September?

“I said that to Brian Cody just afterwards [that I] think we will return the favour from 2012. The ball is in our court now to do that now.”

Lots of positives and very little between them. Seven points to be exact. Hence, the established fact.