Gary Brennan: Limerick relentless workrate forced Clare’s hand too often

Limerick don't have any individual superstars, but they are very well connected as a team. They are a team full of pace, full of confidence and, based on this evidence, full of character.

Killian Ryan of Limerick, 24, celebrates with teammates after their victory over Clare in the penalty shoot-out of the Munster SFC quarter-final at Cusack Park

Thank you to the players and management of both Limerick and Clare for an incredible evening’s entertainment. The quality might not always have reached the heights we may see at the latter end of the championship, but this was a long way from some of the previous dour contests between the counties. It’s only a pity more people didn’t get to see it.

Limerick eventually got over the line thanks to sublime penalty taking. As word filtered around that the action would take place at the old scoreboard end of Cusack Park, the race for position began, but the efforts of the Clare supporters behind that goal did little to distract Iain Corbett, Robbie Bourke, Brian Donovan and James Naughton who each slammed home with conviction. I don’t know how much either team practiced this, but Limerick looked as though they had done it a thousand times.