In his victory speech Declan Hannon was respectful and brief. After the formalities he got to the point. “We’re 100 per cent driving on for the next six weeks,” he said. Nobody was fumbling for a calendar. The semi-finals are in four weeks. They’re entitled to dream.
For Hannon, Nickie Quaid and Graeme Mulcahy this was their seventh Munster medal, in the golden autumn of careers that started when Limerick were sometimes hopeless and sometimes hapless. This Limerick team have no contact with their troubled past. They made a new life.
For other generations of Limerick players and supporters Munster finals had often been a source of heartbreak and torment, but it has become a blissful place. On Sunday they played with overwhelming authority. Clare were the better team for 15 minutes and second best for an hour. Nothing of the thrill has dulled yet.
“Listen,” said John Kiely, “myself and Paul [Kinnerk] said it to each other before the game – you feel that edge and, I suppose, nervousness in the pit of your stomach that you should feel when you’re in Thurles for a Munster final. We grew up as children looking in on these occasions, never thinking we’d ever be involved in them. And we need to remind ourselves, from time to time, that these are just incredible occasions to be a part of once – let alone any other number of times after that.
“And we need to appreciate every single one of them, because you never know the time it’s going to be your last time there. We understand, and we appreciate, that this is an incredible piece of sport to be a part of. An occasion of sport to be a part of. I’m just glad we produced a performance worthy of it today.”
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Without having sight of the numbers Kiely wouldn’t say that it was Limerick’s best performance of the season, but the data can’t be the last word for everything. Nobody has caused Limerick as much trouble as Clare over the last three years, and unlike other games in their schedule, they needed a performance that was full of critical mass. They brought everything they depend on: power, efficiency, aerial dominance, baldheaded aggression. First principles.
Nobody was really talking about six Munster titles in a row until they reached the final, a fortnight ago. Everybody has been talking about five All-Irelands in-a-row since they won the fourth last July. They have an answer for everything.
“Ah listen,” said Kiely, “the conversation [about five-in-a-row] has been there a long time. They’re numbers at the end of the day. They weren’t important coming in today; they’re not going to be important after today. What’s important for us is what we go after ourselves. We know that. Internally, those are the drivers, those are the motivating factors. They’re the things that we’re relentless to go after, and we’ll keep going after those relentlessly.
“We’re thrilled to have won it. It’s the end of that chapter for 2024, the Munster championship. We’re thrilled to have come out the right side of it. It means a huge amount to us. But we now know that we’re after opening another chapter, and now we have to embrace that and we have to go after that, and it will mean continued work, continued hard work, chasing even greater targets.”
For the third season in a row Clare are facing into an All-Ireland quarter-final with just a fortnight to recover. In all likelihood their opponents will be Wexford, who probably nearly beat them two years ago, when Clare were still dazed from the Munster final.
Yesterday they never reached the level of their last two Munster final performances. A stunning goal from Peter Duggan brought them all square in first half stoppage time, but they had played with the elements in the first half and by Brian Lohan’s estimation it was a “four- or five-point breeze”. If anything it got stronger in the second half and Clare struggled to get the ball beyond a barricade of Limerick players in the middle third.
“Disappointed with the result obviously,” said Lohan, “but probably have to put your hand up as well and say you are up against a really good opponent. While we are disappointed, we are still proud of our lads. They are still a resilient bunch.
“The competition is finished now. We move on to a new competition. We have experience losing to these guys before. The lost time we lost we were able to bounce back.”
No other choice.
