John Kiely hails Treaty treble-winners' resolve after 'special' All-Ireland title triumph

We had been waiting all year for peak Limerick.

That it finally arrived on the biggest day was perhaps not a surprise, more so that Kilkenny were able to live with them for so long.

In a hurling final of superb quality there were 60 scores and just 20 wides (10 each) before Limerick edged it by two points to win their third All-Ireland title on the trot and fourth in five years.

"It's probably even a better performance than I'd hoped for to be honest with you," said beaming manager John Kiely.

"A huge challenge brought by Kilkenny. We played fantastic hurling but they still cropped up with quality scores themselves from the half-forward line, midfield. You could hardly believe there was only four points in it coming up to half-time. I was saying, 'God, all the hurling we have played and Kilkenny are still there'. There was nothing in it at half-time, absolutely nothing.

"They came strong in the second half even though we started quite well. They came strong then, brought a huge challenge, got a great goal. That was a massive question: How would we react to that goal? Our response was great, we got a good point shortly after. The lads coming off the bench made a huge impact, Cathal O'Neill, Conor Boylan, Peter Casey, David Reidy. They all made telling contributions."

Kilkenny equalised for the second and final time through Richie Hogan in the 63rd minute. Kiely admitted he was thinking, 'Christ, what do we have to do to get away from these guys?' at this point.

"We were hurling well. We were winning puck-outs, creating scoring opportunities and yet they were still there. Obviously this was a key piece of the game now. Who was going to respond? Who was going to go into the ascendancy and dominate the next minutes of the game and