Similar feelings swept across the thousands more that will claim to have been there in years to come. Liam Donoghue thought. Conor Hayes thought. Damien Joyce thought. Less than a year after Galway had been massacred on a sorry evening in Thurles, it was happening again. 4-20 to 1-10 that day.

One championship win over what faced them in the 18 years that had passed since the 1987 decider. Still 67 minutes left to farm a barren field. Still 30 seconds until the ball was back in play. Half a minute to wonder, wince and worry.

Donoghue is quick to pick himself off the ground though. He trounces back towards his goal, still with the smallest resonance of a skip in every other step. The most confident Galway man left inside the old gates. He has prepared himself to be beaten in his goalmouth time and time again. He has been so used to it but his side aren't as bad as Thurles.

Kilkenny can't be as good this day.

"Stating the obvious, we are really up for the game. I'm standing in the goal and thinking this is our chance.

How could I not be thinking this is the time to make it? It's an All Ireland semi-final. It's Croke Park. It's Kilkenny. It's all of these things. But at the same time I am a little worried because of the opposition.

"That 19-point hiding is still at the back of my mind and even in these opening minutes I'm thinking a little bit about that. But at the same time it is good motivation because I know that down in Thurles, we weren't as atrocious as it looked. We were the league champions going into that game and even after that defeat, we could have had a go at Kilkenny a week later. I'm not telling myself that we would have beaten them but we would have definitely put up a respectable show. They were absolutely awesome that day and they didn't let us get going at all, but I know that wasn't us and that we aren't that bad a side.

We've had games behind us this time. Four played. Four won. Today, we can get going.

"And then the play switches and the ball goes past me and it's so early in the All Ireland semi-final and maybe people are thinking the worst around the place but to be honest, it is nothing new for me. I'm sick of Kilkenny because I've about 16 goals conceded in four matches against them. Honestly, they are the figures and I'm well aware of them. So I'm not really saying, 'Here we go again' because this is hurling. A five or six-point lead is nothing. Stay confident because when you play Kilkenny they are always likely to score goals. I keep telling myself that I know this situation first hand and I, mentally, have myself prepared for this. I have been preparing for this and for every other eventuality for some time. I have to be able to rise above all this. We have to be able to rise above all this."

Donoghue grabs a stick and a sliotar and sends the ball skywards, not knowing where it is all headed. On the sideline Conor Hayes is turning a pale colour. Then a red.

Then a purple. He is thinking of the game he expected.

What he had told them all beforehand on the bus and in the dressing room. He is thinking of his job and of the future.

"We are here, now, in Croke Park expecting a tight and close affair given how well both sides would know each other. It has been the sort of game I've been talking about since we beat Tipperary in the quarter-final. I am thinking that this might be a dour affair and that, soon, it could turn into something physical. And I have said all along that we hope to keep it as close as we could because when Kilkenny start to get goals, they will beat you.

"We have just picked our team to man mark them and now a goal and we have to switch. I am a bit worried because maybe we are trying to be too smart on the sideline with lads doing manmarking jobs and that sort of stuff and it isn't really working at this stage. Switches?

It's part of the game but this time my team have a better attitude. I know that. It crosses my mind that they aren't going to panic and hang the heads this time. That happened the last time we faced these lads in the championship but not here and not now. We are all here together and it's an All Ireland semifinal. We have drilled this into them. It doesn't matter who we face. We are still only 67 minutes away from the final.

We have warned them of the possibility of going down by five or six points and now that it could happen, they can't panic. They won't.

"Beating Tipperary in the quarter-finals was a boost to us and okay, we have won three games in a qualifier.

We were expected to get to this semi-final and find redemption. But we don't really know where we stand, despite that bit of confidence gained in recent months. We hadn't been that convincing in those qualifiers despite the results. Limerick probably should have beaten us in the Gaelic Grounds in that last game in our group. And now it is difficult to know how we will do. Certainly we have trained hard but we haven't a great record in knock-out situations. But we've beaten Tipperary. It has relieved a fair bit of pressure. It's time to make a switch."

Joyce is having a good year but a terrible time marking Brennan. His man has surged like a wave, hitting 1-2 in the opening stages. He knows what is coming. "Eddie has had a great start and for me, it is one of those things. The ball comes in and it's a little bit wet, we're all aware of that, and it skids off the hurl a small bit and goes in behind me. Now there is this second when I know what's coming.

It is a disaster. If only it had happened out the field it would have gone unnoticed. It would have been just a glitch but this is the full-back line and I've already looked around at the start and I know there are good cornerforwards. There is some real quality and it's going to be a goal. But I've got to get on with it. We've been good this year up to now and one moment can't change all that.

"The confidence is slightly damaged but I know I've to concentrate on the next ball and the next ball after that.

I've got to get it out of my head. There was last year and a heavy defeat but we are better prepared now and our forwards are going well.

There's a message from the sideline, I'm told to switch with Shane Kavanagh. This sort of thing happens. It's happened before with club and county and it's nothing new. I've just got to get across there into the other corner as quickly as possible and get on with it. Worry about each ball as it comes. Stick to the game plan and just hurl away like I was at home. Every ball is as important as the next. Forget about what happened. Get on with it."

Joyce races to the other corner, knowing what has gone before, unaware of what lies ahead. Maybe they'll concede something close to the 4-20 they did last year. God forbid. Maybe this will be the shoot-out they feared but never expected. Maybe it will be one of the great games.

Maybe they can turn it around. Maybe it will be a day and a scoreline they will never forget.

Galway 5-18. Kilkenny 418. They never will forget.

Today they'll glare into each others eyes and remember that little bit more.