Limerick v Kilkenny: Three big match turning points 

Conor Boylan, left, and Cathal O'Neill of Limerick celebrate the All-Ireland final victory at Croke Park. 

A good start is half the battle

Limerick's fast start gave them a vital platform and Kilkenny, for all of the guts and endeavour they showed throughout the rest of the game, never truly recovered from it. Diarmaid Byrnes lofted over Limerick's opener from a second minute free, riding the stiff breeze at his back. Then Gearoid Hegarty seized on a long diagonal ball towards the right of the danger area, beat his man and unleashed a rocket shot to the far corner of the Kilkenny net. Limerick were clearly after a strong start and pushed for goals where possible. Two minutes later, Aaron Gillane found himself bottled up but still in possession of the sliotar so kicked it over the bar. Limerick suddenly led 1-2 to 0-0 and had the ideal platform from which to attack the rest of the game. It was the sort of beginning that Kilkenny badly needed and while they did get it back to level terms briefly on two occasions in the second-half, the early Limerick blitz left clear daylight between the teams for much of the game.

Kilkenny failed to capitalise on momentum 

The 1-1 that Kilkenny sniped between the 47th and 48th minutes brought them back to level terms for the first time since the second minute. Kilkenny trailed by four points at half-time and that margin still separated them with 47 minutes on the clock but Martin Keoghan's goal gave Kilkenny a major boost. TJ Reid made a terrific fetch and played the ball across to Eoin Cody who showed the presence of mind to flick the ball on to Keoghan who struck to the net. Moments later, substitute John Donnelly nailed a long-range score and Kilkenny were back on level terms. Kilkenny needed to push on and capitalise on their momentum at that stage but couldn't. Veteran Richie Hogan came on for his first appearance of the Championship and nailed a classy point which briefly levelled it again with seven minutes remaining but Limerick ultimately outscored them 0-9 to 0-7 after the Donnelly point. Excellence just when it was required.

Delivering when the need is greatest

You could question David Blanchfield's decision to take a point from long-range for Kilkenny in the 74th minute. He punched the air in delight, clearly suspecting that Kilkenny would have further time to eat into what was then a two-point deficit. In truth, he probably should have punted the ball towards his full-forward line and tried for a goal because time was as good as up. Still, it would have been one against the head even if Kilkenny had escaped because Limerick showed the mark of champions by reeling off five points in a row between the 64th and 71st minutes. True to the pattern of a battling Championship for the Shannonsiders, they dug remarkably deep late on again. Kyle Hayes, Cathal O'Neill, Conor Boylan, Aaron Gillane and Gearoid Hegarty reeled off those five points in a row. We knew of course that Kilkenny wouldn't toss in the towel but it was simply too much to fight back from at that stage of the game.