Limerick singing in the rain but Clare's powder will dry for future tests

Thurles was like a Scottish rock band all day. Wet wet wet.

The Clare fans could feel the anticipation of a first Munster title in 24 years in their fingers and in their toes, and had been wandering the town since well before noon, hours of drizzle dampening their clothes but not their enthusiasm.

The blue and yellow poncho-wearers shouted slightly louder in an evenly split crowd of 45,158 – at one stage a chorus of boos chased an Aaron Gillane free wide, Thomond Park it wasn't – but after 90+ minutes of unbearable tension it was the not-so-little green men who came away with the silverware once again.

John Kiely has now led Limerick to four provincial titles in a row and few would bet against a third All-Ireland on the trot for his magnificent team.

But, in Clare, the Treaty seem to have found a worthy rival at least – Kiely saying afterwards that yesterday’s extra-time epic ranked in the top four games of his six-year reign, as did last month’s draw in Ennis.

"I think there was no quarter asked or given," was his assessment of the Semple Stadium slugfest. "They are two honest sides who really go at each other in every sense of the word.

"The game could have gone any way. I just think our experience shone through in the finish and we were able to find those vital scores when it mattered.

"It [winning] felt phenomenal because the challenge we had to overcome was immense. There were times there when things weren't stringing together and we were struggling, we were struggling with restarts, we were struggling with general play. We just had to keep going. It was one of those days where you just had to keep grinding it out.

"All hats off to my crew, I am so proud of them. We had a tough spring. We worked really, really, hard. We