Did Limerick overpower their only real rivals? Was that the best Waterford can manage?

If tonight's Munster thriller was the first of a trilogy, how does it set up the narrative for parts two and three?

Limerick’s Sean Finn and Michael Kiely of Waterford

In the blizzard of noise and numbers which accompany every championship game these days, one failsafe metric reared its head at Saturday night’s Munster SHC tie between Limerick and Waterford.

With 30 minutes played the stadium announcer informed the Gaelic Grounds crowd - a healthy 27,488 - that a lost child had been found and was available for collection. You see shells and you guess eggs: the game being played was the kind nobody wanted to tear their eyes away from.

Limerick-Waterford fairly twanged with incident. A rich text, you might say. Before ten minutes were gone Cian Lynch had departed with a troublesome hamstring, an event so stunning that Limerick’s midfielder Will O’Donoghue drove a pass well beyond its target.

Granted Cathal O’Neill came on for Lynch and hit a point immediately, but here was incident. Limerick, already down Seamus Flanagan and Peter Casey from last year’s attack, plus Kyle Hayes from this year’s, had suddenly lost another key man.

Not that Waterford needed much more encouragement. The visitors were physically engaged with Limerick, which is not surprising, but that engagement went beyond simple confrontation.

The league champions were switched on for Limerick restarts and sidelines, and didn’t allow the home side easy possession. The usual conundrum for Limerick’s opponents is to take them on physically and thus end up doing exactly what Limerick want; Waterford committed players to the contact zones but for much of the game didn’t get sucked into the wearying churn around the middle of the field, the green-hued combine harvester which mangles so many opposing players.

The visitors weren’t afraid to go long from puckouts either, introducing a little chaos in the Limerick half from time to time, a sharp contrast with Cork’s build-up play the previous week. When Cian Lynch buckled with what looked like a hamstring injury early on the signs were promising for Waterford.

Yet Limerick led at half-time. How?

As their half-forward line struggled to get a bridgehead, Limerick went over their heads: Diarmaid Byrnes brought his form from Páirc Uí Chaoimh to the Gaelic Grounds, keeping Waterford in sight. Behind him Sean Finn panthered around the full-back line and, aided by Barry Nash and Mike Casey, kept Waterford at bay. Aaron Gillane uncoiled himself in the closing stages of the half to nudge his side ahead.

That was a good ten minutes for those with the initials AG, by the way - seven of the eight last points of the first half were scored by Austin Gleeson and Aaron Gillane. Attorney General jokes were at a premium on the Ennis Road around half seven on Saturday night. (No? Just me, then).

Credit Limerick for cruising away from Waterford in the second half, Gillane looping on those curving runs and O’Neill chipping in to ease the champions away - only to be reeled in by a couple of glorious assists from Gleeson at the other end.

Still, Limerick were seven up and comfortable until Waterford finally landed two goals in the closing seven minutes: Stephen Bennett and Jack Prendergast drew Waterford within one with their green flags, but Limerick answered the bell. With the evening sun reddening faces in the Mackey Stand, the home side carved out the last six scoring chances. They might have only scored one, but it showed their power when the challenge came.

The questions emerging were as niche and as sweeping as you want. Were Limerick put to the pin of their collar by their only real rivals - or was that the best Waterford can manage? Can Limerick survive without all those forwards in the upcoming matches, or will they need to have every weapon in the armoury for the teams they have yet to face?

Look back at the game from another perspective altogether.

Was that the first instalment in a trilogy? Those spilling out into the horrific traffic jam which gummed up Limerick city’s arteries after the game might well consider the game a tasty starter for the Munster final - or the All-Ireland itself, notwithstanding the throat-clearing you can hear from the others with an interest in that particular date.

On the evidence to hand Limerick and Waterford seem ahead of the posse, but even in this truncated season a lot can happen in the next couple of weeks. The next couple of days, come to that.

Traditionally, of course, the initial episode in a trilogy sets up the themes and the trends, as well as setting up a narrative thread that pays off down the line. Whether your tastes run to The Lord of the Rings or the Sword of Honour, those are the rules of the triptych.

The latter trilogy begins with Men at Arms, by the way. It ends with Unconditional Surrender. Just saying.