And Limerick win... eventually.
Anyone who had nothing to do on Bank Holiday Monday evening and stuck on TG4 was awarded a procrastination feast. Limerick and Clare slugged it out over a full 70 minutes plus injury time, extra time... another period of extra time and then a free-taking shootout.
It truly was a game for the ages. It also took bloody ages to decide. It wasn't until almost three hours after the throw-in time that a victor finally emerged.
https://twitter.com/sportsdes/status/975804204651597825
There were so many times in this game where Limerick looked set to fail, but they always pulled it out of the bag at the crucial moment.
When they were trailing by a solitary point heading into the 73rd minute, a moment of magic from Colin Ryan bought them more time. His side-line cut went right between the posts to force 20 more minutes of action.
https://twitter.com/officialgaa/status/975788671382310912
Then, in the 22nd minute of extra time, Limerick needed a goal to bring things level.
Remarkably, Diarmuid Byrnes bagged one in the 11th hour to force another period of extra time. After playing 20 minutes of extra time already, they would go for another 10.
https://twitter.com/officialgaa/status/975801323869392896
They couldn't be separated after those ten minutes either.
With the game tied at 4-21 to 0-33, they went to the 65-yard line to decide it. However, it started looking like even that wasn't going to be enough. The first ten frees sailed over the bar bringing it to sudden death.
Unfortunately for the Banner, they missed the mark first. Colin Ryan made absolutely no mistake with his chance to seal the game. He fired it over to secure a memorable victory for Limerick. They took it 7-6 in the shootout.
