Future of Limerick hurling in our hands, says Cian Lynch

As captain Diarmaid Byrnes climbed the steps of the stand in Ennis’s Cusack Park, Limerick U21 manager John Kiely, lost in a sea of green and white on the pitch below, attempted to make sense of their summer-rescuing win.

The preceding weeks had been a miserable spell for Limerick hurling - the county’s minor and intermediate teams emerging empty-handed from their respective provincial finals, the seniors falling to Tipperary and Dublin.

Pressure then lay with the U21 side to ensure at least one piece of silverware was added to the trophy cabinet on the Ennis Road.