It was a Munster final for the ages in Thurles as Limerick and Clare left it all on the field.
At the end of an unforgettable Munster final, Limerick stood tall after outlasting Clare after extra-time 1-29 to 0-29 in Thurles yesterday.
Following on from their draws in League and Championship, the sides couldn’t be separated in normal time with 45,000 in attendance treated to a classic.
Against the defending champions, Clare hit the ground running as Tony Kelly, Peter Duggan and Ryan Taylor all got off the mark early as the Banner seized the early initiative.
But by the quarter hour mark, Limerick were ahead, RTÉ man of the match Seamus Flanagan, giving the Treaty their first lead of the day.
Clare hit back in a topsy turvy opening half as they moved three clear before Gearoid Hegarty’s wonder goal drew the sides level.
That left it finely poised at 1-9 to 0-12 at the interval.
It wasn’t until the 56th minute that a team moved two clear in the second half, Limerick into a 1-17 to 0-18 lead.
But Clare weren’t left for wanting a drew level again with the teams deadlocked approaching the final whistle.
Declan Hannon produced a wonder score that looked like sealing the result but Kelly replied in kind with a majestic sideline to send the game to an extra 20 minutes.
It wasn’t until the added periods that Limerick flexed their muscle as they found scores easier to come by, eventually running out three point victors.
Limerick now move into an All-Ireland semi-final on 3 July while Clare face into a quarter-final the previous week.
Watch the highlights from an unforgettable game below.
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