Tommy Walsh joined Off The Ball to discuss Kilkenny's narrow win over Dublin, and looked ahead to a date with Galway.
Speaking to OTB Sports' Aisling O'Reilly at Croke Park, Walsh spoke about a game with Kilkenny running rampant at half-time, to ultimately win by 3-20 to Dublin's 2-22.
Tommy Walsh on Kilkenny
"We signed off from the Off The Ball updates at 5pm - the last thing I said was 'this will be a comfortable victory for Kilkenny' - how wrong I was!
"Dublin came back from 15 or 16 points down, and people were asking 'What happened to Kilkenny?' But a lot of this was Dublin. Dublin were not as bad as they were in that first half.
"They were showing nothing. We saw the form of the likes of Chris Crummey and Donal Burke last week, and we just didn't see any of that in the first 40-45 minutes.
"Eamonn Dillon and Ronan Hayes came on and added that firepower. Dillon scored a goal against Laois last week, and I thought that he would be starting today, but he showed his worth."
Leinster final
Victors by a slim margin, but victors nonetheless, Kilkenny can now look ahead to a Leinster final with Galway.
"Going into the last water break, Kilkenny looked like an All-Star team after finding their mojo and finding a few new players; but it just didn't happen for them.
"They are trying to get used to new surroundings. They will go back to the drawing board on Monday out in Nowlan Park and change one or two things.
"It is Kilkenny and Galway in a Leinster final in two weeks' time - I think it will go into a 50-50 game, and I think it will suit Kilkenny to have to go and ask themselves a few questions."
TJ Reid
Kilkenny have the added bonus of one of the finest players in the game, in TJ Reid.
"I had the pleasure of marking him in training. He is an absolute magician.
"If you play him from the front or play him from behind, he is just going to win the ball. You have to try and shadow him and keep him from scoring too high a score on you.
"An absolute wizard, he lives for the game. He is 32 now, playing his club game for Ballyhale like a 27-year-old. I know that he owns a gym, so he is really treating his body right.
"Around 2012, he got a bad knee injury and spent a lot of time in the gym in 2013-14. He slowly came around to that way of life, as well as his diet.
"It is really bearing fruit - you have the hurling, the diet and the lifestyle of a professional player.
"He is just a joy to watch."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
