Cian Lynch picks up a breaking ball in midfield - Limerick destroyed Clare on long deliveries in the Munster final, setting the platform for their victory. Photograph: James Crombie/InphoThis column last week managed to get its predictions on both provincial finals spectacularly wrong. Winners find a way. Maybe there was a romantic element to thinking Clare and Dublin would end long waits for provincial crowns.
Clare won only 8/28 of their deliveries in total. That accounted for all 20 of the possession turnovers Limerick accrued. The massively concerning thing for Clare is Limerick scored 1-8 from these 20 possessions, as they worked the ball up the field in devastating manner, typically through the lines. Kyle Hayes was at the heart of all this stuff as he hurled on the front foot, assisting 1-5 and scoring 0-2.
Another interesting aspect of the encounter was how differently Colm Lyons refereed the battle between Conor Cleary and Aaron Gillane compared to the first meeting in Ennis. In the round robin game, he let them at it and penalised both equally for their off ball grappling. However, he deemed Cleary to foul Gillane on three occasions without Gillane having possession. Gillane himself converted 0-2 from these frees won.
In the second half Daire Gray was tasked with man marking him and was pulled and dragged all over the pitch, unbalancing the Dublin defensive shape. Both scenarios were exploited by Kilkenny, as the likes of John Donnelly and Cian Kenny prospered in the areas vacated by Mullen, while there were other spaces left higher up field for the likes of TJ Reid and Eoin Cody.