If the championship is Broadway and the NHL off-Broadway, how would you describe last Saturday night?

An early-season title for Limerick, winners over Cork in this Co-Op Superstores Munster SHL final in the Gaelic Grounds, with 5,295 in attendance.

A final quarter surge by Limerick, which included a David Dempsey goal, brought an end to Tipperary’s involvement in the Co-op Superstores Munster hurling league with the Shannonsiders scoring a 2-22 to 1-17 win at the LIT Gaelic Grounds.

The result, which played out in front of a crowd of 1,628, means the All-Ireland champions cannot now progress to the decider.

Kilkenny are champions of the inaugural New York Hurling Classic after a convincing 24-point win over Limerick in Citi Field.

Na Piarsaigh overcame Kilmallock yesterday at the Gaelic Grounds to make another Limerick SHC final, but the former All-Ireland club champions had to fight all the way, having lost centre-back Ronan Lynch to a red card early in the second half.

Na Piarsaigh came through to face Patrickswell in the Limerick SHC final with a tough win over Kilmallock.

Limerick’s All-Ireland winner Kyle Hayes on his powerful hands and the hurleys he stores in the shed on the family farm

Limerick manager John Kiely says a place in the 2019 Munster final is not on his mind as his side prepare to face Tipperary in Thurles this Sunday.

Offaly safely negotiated a potentially tricky first round qualifier tie at Bord na Móna O’Connor Park in Tullamore this afternoon, where they had the brilliance of Bernard Allen to thank for the ten-point winning margin they enjoyed against London.

Limerick manager John Kiely is expecting a backlash from his side when they play their second Munster Championship game against Waterford in Walsh Park on Sunday.

Na Piarsiagh showed that they have every intent in holding onto their title after they swept aside South Liberties by 4-20 to 0-10 in Mungret.

Last weekend, Limerick’s Shane Dowling nudged David Dempsey as the National Hurling League final unfurled before them.

Former Tipperary senior hurling manager Michael Ryan will take charge of the Limerick county champions Na Piarsaigh.

Limerick Institute of Technology advanced to the Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-finals after a 4-24 to 0-12 win over Garda College at LIT.

When I was driving back from Thurles yesterday, I was listening to the widespread coverage on RTÉ Radio 1 of Ireland’s memorable win against the All-Blacks on Saturday evening. Hugo McNeill and Eddie O’Sullivan made some really interesting points but the general thrust of their analysis was that Ireland just refused to take a backward step against the World champions, writes Anthony Daly.

A couple of momentary mental lapses couldn’t stop reigning Limerick and Munster champions Na Piarsaigh reaching a seventh Limerick senior final in 10 seasons.

David Treacy's 12th point of an epic All-Ireland club hurling final ensured that holders Cuala live to fight another day.

The main talking points from this weekend’s Allianz League action.

When John Kiely announced his extended panel for the 2018 campaign, 10 of the 38 players listed were from the Na Piarsaigh club.

Limerick’s John Kiely and Cork’s Ronan McCarthy are among those inter-county managers who may not be able to field players from their senior county championship-winning clubs in this year’s Allianz Leagues.

It was only three years ago that then Limerick chairman Oliver Mann was telling club delegates that promotion from Division 1B was a priority for their senior hurlers.

The memories came flooding back to me in Thurles yesterday from all angles. It was almost 20 years to the day since we, Clarecastle, won our only Munster title in 1997. We had beaten Ballygunner in the semi-final. There was a Limerick team in the final again yesterday, just like there had been when we met Patrickswell.

“The record is not something we have brought up or even discussed,” said Na Piarsaigh manager Shane O’Neil after their Munster semi-final win over Blackrock.

This was a convincing return to fortunes for Na Piarsaigh whose fourth senior county title never really looked in doubt in the Gaelic Grounds.

KILKENNY 0-11 - LIMERICK 0-17: Familiar territory, this, for Limerick. And a familiar question is again posed: Can this latest U21 success pave the way to senior hurling glory?

Five Things We Found Out

The eternal tension arises between tradition and innovation. What we’ve always done, what we need to do now, and the trouble encountered in moving from one of those positions to the other.

Nobody knows our troubles but God. Not exactly the words of Clare co-manager Gerry O’Connor after this game but close enough.

The 2016 All-Ireland club champions Na Piarsaigh made their mark on round two of the group phase of the Limerick SHC with a 3-18 to 1-15 win over champions Patrickswell.

Patrickswell, the champions, have begun their Limerick SHC title defence with a 0-16 to 0-14 win over Adare, on Sunday afternoon, in Kilmallock. They scored three late points.

Limerick 1-20 Cork 1-18

I was in Páirc Uí Rinn early yesterday, primarily to get a good seat and to sample the atmosphere. I’m not really a football fan, but I was there for all of the Cork-Down match.