John Kiely makes room in the memory bank for Limerick's greatest glory

For a crowd who waited 45 years between All-Ireland titles, Limerick sure are making a habit of it now.

Three was the magic number on Sunday as the Treaty edged out Kilkenny and joined them, Cork and Tipperary in the elite club of counties to have won a trio of consecutive titles.

For manager John Kiely, this was the most satisfying of his side's four triumphs in five years, eclipsing even the breakthrough season of 2018.

"It absolutely is," he said. "Because look at the opposition we had to play. We played everybody in Munster. We had an incredible battle with Clare in the Munster final.

"Galway, a super side that we had huge battles with over the last five or six years as well. An incredible side and obviously then to meet Kilkenny in the final.

"The hallmark of their teams is always their hard work, they are tremendously skillful as well. They have it all in abundance. It was a proper battle. Some tremendous scores got by both sides. Just hugely relieved and delighted with what our lads did. Very proud."

Kiely said he had expected a performance from his players after seeing their reaction to the nervy semi-final victory over Galway. Their shooting accuracy improved from 61% a fortnight ago to a superb 72% yesterday.

"We were disappointed with our level of performance in the Galway game," he continued.

"But from the night we went back… the effort they put in on a Tuesday after a Sunday game. It's really not meant to be that kind of session. But it almost becomes that because the players are demanding it of themselves.

"So even if you are just doing a high ball drill and there are two fellows underneath it and they are wrestling each other to the ground you know they are on the money.

"The boys set the tone themselves for the two