Speed will be crucial in Thurles

It had to happen, didn’t it? Clare and Limerick. Again.

Waterford Crystal quarter-final with 30 minutes of extra-time. Waterford Crystal quarter-final replay. National League group fixture. Division 2 final. Heaven knows how they managed to avoid each other in the Munster championship, but with remorseless inevitability the fates throw the pair together in this evening’s qualifier. Once more with feeling.

What Limerick were in 2011, Clare are in 2012. Precise and calculated to an almost painful degree. All that running and drawing the cover and hand passing to the man making a burst on one’s shoulder.