Drab Limerick and Clare encounter finally bursts into life

Clare 2-15 Limerick 1-19: The margins were fine in Thurles even if the hurling wasn’t.

A drab Munster encounter in front of a 21,493 crowd sprung to life in the second half when both teams lost the run of themselves — or should that be their shackles — and actually started to play.

So what swung it in Limerick’s favour? Young Adare man John Fitzgibbon, with his 68th minute long-range point, may have been the match-winner but there was a plethora of reasons for this result. That Clare won only one free in the second half to Limerick’s five? Possibly? That just 90 or so seconds of additional time were played when it seemed more should have been allocated? Maybe. That Limerick were slightly the better team? Perhaps.