Friday night's All-Star awards will be grist to the mill for Derek Lyng and the Cats as they aim to reclaim Liam next season.

Feakle were outstanding in victory but it was almost an untypical Sixmilebridge performance. One thing you always associate with the 'Bridge is how up for it they are on the line. On Monday, they looked passive. 

While you may not agree with penalties, nobody can deny the drama and excitement they bring.

Suddenly, we have semi-finals nobody would have predicted.

Missing out on the chance to create history will have added to the agony. Watching their arch rivals Clare go on the win the All-Ireland will have exacerbated the pain even more.

It's a killer for Hoggie and Seamie Harnedy to come up short again but All-Irelands are so hard won. A handful of the Clare lads have their second medal now, which is even more incredible again considering that Clare only have five of them.

This was finally a bridge too far for Limerick but this team will still go down as one of the greatest ever.

In my analysis for RTÉ at half-time on Saturday in Croke Park, I was harsh on Clare. It wasn’t personal, just reality. I was wondering was this where it was all going to end for this group under Brian Lohan.

You can sense the trepidation and public fear of potentially losing another All-Ireland semi-final.

A rebuild would have needed another three years, which Henry Shefflin was never going to get.