Seconds away from a Munster final… with very little left of most people’s nails. It felt like the pre-back door days. But the story that put my name on the front cover of a book returned to haunt us - ’Unlimited Heartbreak’.

Some years there was internal politics, some years there was insufficient preparation, but all that changed this year, with a free run in. However, the common denominator remains, losing narrowly in the dying stages, when the game is in the melting pot. As with Mick O’Dwyer in football counties, you would think that the presence of Donal O’Grady might ensure that a chink of luck that has betrayed us in the past might bestow itself upon us this time, but it wasn’t to be. A two-point lead is a dangerous lead - arguably the most dangerous lead in the game of hurling and greater ships have run aground in similar situations.

To be fair, it was a thrilling second half. The one game it compares to in recent times is the 2006 battle against Cork in the All Ireland quarter-final. Waterford were the favourites, Limerick the underdogs, but a well prepared Limerick as with Richie and Gary back then, turned up on the day. When Limerick turn up, the sum of the parts is greater than the numbers 1-15 and opposition teams struggle to cope at times. Some will say that the team is better going through the back door, and getting a few games to blood the kids further, but there is no greater stage to test kids in than a Munster hurling final.

However it’s the fine lines that decide these games and in this case there were many that on another day might have broken differently. The deflection that put John Mullane’s winning goal past Nickey Quaid is one of them. The fact that for all three Waterford goals there were Limerick players on the deck is another. It must be stated, though, that for John Mullane’s winner, Brian O’Sullivan blatantly took out Donal O’Grady by challenging him high and Wayne Mac was knocked over as part of the incident, leaving John Mullane free to strike the ball unopposed. But outside of that, when one looks at the winning and losing of the game, Waterford were able to spring Jamie Nagle, Seamus Prendergast and Eoin Kelly to help guide the ship home. The real moment that won the game for Waterford probably came earlier as the decision to switch the Brick Walsh back to full back to mark Kevin Downes neutralised that threat. It’s a switch that might stand Waterford in good stead when greater tests arise because it confirmed that he can do the job.

Waterford have played unbelievable hurling in the past only to be undone by their full back line but yesterday confirmed an underlying belief among some within the County that the only man to solve the problem is Walsh. They will certainly have more faith in his ability to handle Lar Corbett than the other full back options, but robbing Peter to pay Paul will linger in the mind.

They have brought through some nice forwards such as Paudie Mahony and Brian O’Sullivan but are they the marquee forwards? When push came to shove, it fell to the old guard to conjure the goal. The fresh Nagle found the energy to gather Paul Browne’s clearance from Kelly’s free and keep ahead of the tracking Graham Mulcahy. He then found Kelly who floated a ball across to Mullane who backed off - clearly expecting the ball - and then buried. In their pomp, Waterford had Eoin Kelly, Dan Shanahan, Paul Flynn, Ken McGrath for a while and John Mullane who were capable of doing any thing at any time, without warning and purely on instinct. The likes of Jack Kennedy, Paul O’Brien and Dave Bennett were good forwards, whereas the other names were world-class. Only time will tell us where the kids fit in. The general consensus is that in the Munster final, the Waterford defence will struggle to cope with the movement of the Tipperary forwards. Tipperary will target the full back line, along with Tony Browne for special attention as they attempt to unsettle them with movement. Davy Fitz will need to have a few tricks up his sleeve because what Waterford produced in defence today or indeed in Croke Park last year will not do.

Limerick on the other hand venture into the qualifiers, meeting one of Wexford, Galway or Dublin. Two of the three games could be on away grounds. Our most recent non-neutral-venue meeting with Dublin was at the Gaelic Grounds in 2006, we faced Galway in 2005 at home also, and we faced Wexford away in 2009. Unless Croke Park specify that the first team out of the hat are at home, we may be on the road. The loss of Declan Hannon is something worth noting. He may well have poached a couple of long-range scores, when the game was in the melting pot but one never knows. His Leaving Cert is, quite rightly, the priority at the moment. Patrick Tobin was sprung from the bench again, and he has scored a lot of points when sprung from the bench in the past. However it’s worth noting that most of them have come from the left side of the field. Perhaps that’s something to be kept in mind.

Soaking up the positives from is the first task at hand. The spirit shown by the Green Jersey is unbreakable at times in games, and it’s arguably the greatest strength a Limerick team will ever bring onto the field. Niall Moran had yet another 0-4 game, Downes scored his goals, Donal O’Grady took his chances, Brian Geary remains more than capable at this level and Wayne McNamara made a name for himself.
However, there were times when a little naivety was apparent in defence that might have been addressed long before now had we been in Division 1. But that’s the life that Division 2 provides. Teams don’t really get tested, when stiffer tests in the spring could have ensured a smoother passage across the finishing line in Thurles. To take an example, Down could and arguably should have won the league game up in Portaferry but when we were dining at the top table on Sunday they were losing to Armagh.

On another topic, it was interesting to note RTE carrying Davy’s sideline comments on air. Perhaps they might do it more with other managers as the year advances.

A final word to those who want to dispense with the Munster Hurling Championship: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.