THE Limerick dressingroom is always an interesting place to be. Few teams reach the extreme poles of emotion with such impact as Limerick. Yesterday is was all whoops and backslaps. Clare had this coming to them. The world had this coming to them. Limerick have some scores to settle.

Dave Clarke, with another fine afternoon's work under his belt, was still absorbing it all. In such a heady aftermath the facts of the game need to be laid out for examination.

"They never really got far enough in front of us, it was always touch and go. It was in our head that with five minutes to go we could do it. We remember what Offaly did.

In the end it's the team that takes their chances. Clare had been trying to put us on a pedestal for weeks after the Cork match. But they beat us in last year's Monster final and today we proved that that game was a mistake.

"There's been a fierce hunger there since last year. We had a few bones to pick today. We had a few bones to pick. We got complacent last year in the Munster final and it probably cost us an All Ireland final."

There are still hard days ahead for Limerick. Last winter, when the draw for this Championship was made, they looked at their path back to Croke Park and saw that Cork, Clare and Tipperary would stand in the way. Two thirds of the way through that journey new heroes are emerging to lighten the load. Gary Kirby recognises the importance of new faces and the impetus they can provide.

"Look at Barry Foley. He's a tremendous hurler, he looks after young fellas down in the club (Patrickswell). He scored two mighty points today. They took some courage. Great scores.

"Bringing Barry in, that had to be the switch that won the game. That and the switch at midfield. Most of the way through we seemed to have no go up front. Tom Ryan moved Ciaran into midfield and he opened up the whole defence when we took them on.

"Tiredness probably played a part. We were fierce fit for this. There was fierce heat out there, it was very hard to keep going. We're glad to be over it."

Ciaran Carey has seldom made such an influential contribution to a game. After a relatively quiet afternoon his catch, solo run and score has altered the entire shape of the Championship. Taking possession, Carey had no thoughts in his mind but to go until I got a free or a score.

Late on a torridly hot afternoon such heroism was called for.

"It was unbelievable out there. The heat was unbelievable. Running and breathing, really took it out of you. That heat would drain you. Drank plenty of water last night, but I was still bad today."

Tom Ryan, suffering from laryngitis all week, sat quietly, alone and apart from his players. Another afternoon's worth of efficient bench management chalked up.

"Switches worked today. There are young players we are introducing. It was great to see Barry Foley lashing over two points. Brian Tobin went in, did well. They are young players with a lot of potential.

Clare were definitely on top until then. The Clare full back line was outstanding. I've never seen a full back to play like Lohan. Outstanding. In my book, Brian Lohan was man of the match.

"But then Carey coming through for the winning point was such a great score. Other than that it was a workmanlike performance by our team. We can play better. It's great to unseat All Ireland champions, and Clare took it manfully. They'll be back next year and they'll be better then they were today."

Down the corridor, in the Clare dressingroom, next summer seemed a long, long way away. Ger Loughnane can't help expressing his passion for the game. Even in defeat, the excitement of great hurling transforms him.

"We were three points ahead, we missed a few chances. We've only ourselves to blame for losing in that sense. Fair play to Limerick though. Very few people would have thought they could do it, especially against Clare who have a great reputation for finishing well.

"Fair play to Carey, he was under fierce pressure for the last two or three weeks. But to come like that at the end and score a point is the sign of a real leader. Give him full credit, that was a great score."

That was the winning of the game. The losing of it?

With about 10 minutes to go the wides we struck were just incredible. The big fault is that we never put a team totally away when we are on top. For that you need inside forwards that will finish. We never put them away.

When we didn't go up by more than three points I was getting really worried. Our full back line were absolutely outstanding.

Anthony Daly was blazered up and ready to go. A long, empty summer stretching ahead of him. The last few minutes of the game still replaying in his head.

Carey was the last man you'd want to see going tip the field. That was a most agonising four or five seconds before he hit it over the bar. Whoever was going with him slipped, unfortunately, then he turned and hit it back right handed over his head. It was a great score. They should be fancying themselves now. If we'd come out we'd fancy ourselves. No reasons why they shouldn't."