HAVING Joe Quaid in goal seemed a bit of a waste for Limerick in this summer's Munster championship. During the epic matches that land marked the county's tabled march out of the south he was rarely called into action to make the spectacular saves of which he is eminently capable.

Things haven't always been so happily straightforward. Earlier in the year he was forced to miss some of the county's League fixtures, and manager Tom Ryan expressed himself unhappy with some of the goals the team had been conceding.

To intensify the drama, Quaid's understudy, John O'Brien won a Fitzgibbon Cup medal with UCC and played outstandingly in the tournament. At this remove from the spring, Ryan denies that his faith in Quaid was ever shaken.

"Joe was injured. He had a groin injury. That was the only reason he wasn't playing. He wasn't dropped. I'm vexed with every goal we let in, but there was a certain type of goal being scored. We were getting our calls mixed, up and that had to be worked on.

This confusion at the back illustrated one weakness in Quaid's game, a reluctance to assert himself. "He's very quiet," says Ryan. "I had to push him to make his presence felt and talk to his backs. I had to take him to one side and say `Joe, this is your area, you control it'."

"He has matured from when we got him first and he has great courage and mobility in goals. He can move across the goal a bit and he's made fantastic saves.

"His record of conceding two goals (in this campaign) speaks for itself. He has a tremendous clearance and a puck out like Ger Cunningham's.

"It's a vital position. Down the years in my playing career and management, I've learned that you have to have a good one - and they're scarce. You see soft goals go in and you know how valuable keepers are."

Accordingly, the Quaid family is a priceless resource in Limerick. Joe's cousin Tommy kept goal for the county for the 20 years before Joe took over two years ago. An under age handball champion, Quaid the Younger made his championship debut against Cork in 1994 and announced himself with a string of great saves.

The year led to great and unexpected joy with the winning of the Munster title for the first time in 13 years. But that year's All Ireland final ended in a five minute horror that featured - however minimally - Quaid's puck out after Offaly's second goal. `Taken too quickly' was one of the knee jerk charges, although it had actually found a Limerickman, Ger Hegarty, who unaccountably dropped it.

"That puck-out was won by Limerick and dropped," says Ryan. "If he'd pucked it out short straight to the opposition, there'd be some point, but there wasn't."

The experience left a mark of sorts, an understanding that the goalkeeping position carries an unusual burden of responsibility. In an interview with the Sunday Tribune, he explained the anxiety: "You could go for 69 minutes without having a shot to block and you're two points up and you'd be dreading that someone would come and have a shot at you.

"You're only remembered for the bad things.

After the hiatus of last year, Limerick's return to an All Ireland final has been achieved in awesome style, conceding only two goals. Despite not having been peppered by opposition attacks, Quaid has made important saves. On Sunday, he faces an attack that has averaged nearly two goals per match.

Manager Ryan is happy about the future, both long term and immediate.

"Coaching is an ongoing process. We analyse in game situations which is the only way you can judge, and he's made some brilliant saves, like against Tipperary and two against Antrim, one after the other. The main ingredient is that he's very brave, even with players running in on top of him, with or without the ball.

"He's a quiet fella, takes a lot of flak from the lads, on the receiving end of wise cracks, but he's a good old personality, and a non drinker and non smoker."

Born to it.