This was a poor game of hurling that rarely, if ever matched the high standards that we have seen in the Munster hurling championship down through the years.
For Limerick it showed up the vulnerability that many supporters had feared and the selection choices made by the management in the lead up to this game were questionable to say the least and, while they may say that they picked their team on training ground performances, it has proven to be folly because the real test of players is in game situations.

Donnacha Sheehan
Nobody foresaw, from a supporter's point of view and indeed within the media, the inclusion of Donnacha Sheehan at corner-forward and, while I do not wish to be in any way disrespectful to him, it was clearly obvious within ten minutes of the game starting that he was struggling and it was made all the more difficult for him when he was deployed as a third midfielder - something which clearly did not work.
While he was out around the centre chasing and unsure of what to do, his marker regularly cleared ball up the field and he must have thought that all his Christmases had come at once.
The ploy of playing a third midfielder was of course to assist the defence and midfield areas and this was necessary given the gale of wind that Clare had at their backs.
Limerick had won the toss, but opted to play against the gale and, for long stages it looked as if the correct decision had been made.
Surely Niall Moran would have been better suited to carry out such a role as a third midfielder.
His physical strength and striking ability would have been of greater assistance instead, what resulted, proved to be of more assistance to Clare than it was to Limerick.
We were punished with regularity for such a decision and it ultimately played into the hands of the Bannermen and left Limerick in all sorts of bother on the field and on the line.

Opening twelve minutes
Surprisingly the opening 12 minutes belonged to Limerick - O'Shaughnessey coolly put over the opening point after a good run by Séamus Hickey while the best point of their four in that spell came from Niall Moran - this was a splendid effort which was struck over the shoulder and it left the Limerick bench, which was on my right hand side, pleased, but knowing that there were some cracks appearing.

Brian Murray
One of the difficulties that Limerick had was that Brian Murray's puck outs were regularly too high and were often caught by the ferocious gale.
This put the Limerick half-back line into a lot of bother.
Murray needed to be coming over the top of the ball in an effort to control the flight and give all concerned some hope of breaking even, or even winning, their own puck outs.
He was badly caught for the two goals in the first half and it is fair to suggest that he is not playing with the same confidence as last year.
There were occasions during the league where he showed signs of this and also in the recent city hurling final where he conceded five goals to Na Piarsaigh.
Those within the dug out could see the difficulties he was having and Gary Kirby made the journey to behind the goal to issue instructions.
Clare did get a goal just inside the first quarter but just prior to that, Brian Murray did make a superb reflex save.

Signs of confusion
Clare's opening goal was the first real sign that there was confusion within the defence as the Pat Vaughan hit delivery seemed to go directly to the net.
That score undid much of the good work that Limerick had achieved up to that and, in reality, Clare would go on to control the remainder of the half and lead with a degree of comfort at the break.
Of course they were helped by more sluggish play in our full back line and Jonathan Clancy whipped on a ball first time and left all those wearing green shirts in a further state of confusion.
It could have been worse during that half because Damien Reale, and Mark O'Riordan to a lesser extent, were the only two defenders to make any impression.

Total disarray
Our half back line was in total disarray. Paudie O'Dwyer was in no way commanding and never stamped the authority necessary for the holder of the number six jersey.
It is crucial that the centre-back must hold the centre and, in so many ways, conduct the proceedings however, the misgivings that I have had and expressed on a number of occasions, came home to roost and ultimately Paudie O'Dwyer was well beaten in this position.
Likewise Séamus Hickey seemed to be somewhat at sea and was regularly caught standing well off his man.
Mark Foley, so often in the past one of the great championship performers, was unable to match the pace of Jonathan Clancy - this allowed the Clarecastle man to gain vital metres, not only to score, but to contribute handsomely to general play.

Silly frees
Limerick, during the opening half, and indeed during a few occasions in the second half, gave away some very silly frees and they were ultimately punished for them - bad enough to give away frees but, to further assist Clare, they regularly gave back chat to the referee and this in turn resulted in the ball being brought forward into a more advantageous position for the Clare men. Once a referee blows his whistle neither players nor managers will succeed in changing his mind and it is amazing how many players and managers, at both club and county, regularly try and use their powers of persuasion, but to no avail.
There is little doubt that the prevailing strong winds made it particularly difficult for both teams, but it is fair to say that Clare coped a great deal better than Limerick did with the conditions. Despite Clare's lead at half time the general view around Thurles was that Limerick were still very much in the game and that it was there for the taking for them.
An honest appraisal of this game of hurling would be that it was competitive but, in reality, it was sluggish, lacklustre and lacked any great fluency however, Clare won't be too worried about that. Their battling qualities and their first round championship win over Waterford, certainly assisted them greatly.

No changes at half time
Limerick didn't make any changes at half time and that in itself was surprising given how poorly a number of the team had played during the opening half.
The break Limerick wanted so badly came after a long delivery which saw Ollie Moran flash the sliothar to the net and leave just four points between them three minutes into the second half.
Donnacha Sheehan was called ashore a minute later and his replacement, Donie Ryan, was to improve the forward line and contribute two points.
The difficulties in the Limerick half-back line continued, but Séamus Hickey was switched to corner-back and Mark O'Riordan moved to the half back line.
Just as the opening 12 minutes of the second half mirrored that of the opening 12, Limerick had their best spell with Mike O'Brien, Donie Ryan and Ollie Moran contributing points to leave only two points between the sides.

Frustrating
It must have been quite frustrating for all concerned to see Barry Nugent shoot to the net - it was made all the easier when two Limerick defenders clashed which resulted in a clear passage for Tony Carmody who handpassed across the open goal and presented Barry Nugent with the simplest of tasks.
That mistake which saw Séamus Hickey collide with Stephen Lucey was yet another chilling example of the disarray that was the Limerick defence.
Unfortunately it wasn't to end there - within four minutes Diarmaid McMahon caught a ball delivered by Colin Lynch, who was a good 50 metres from goal and watched by Stephen Lucey, and Diarmuid McMahon got little resistance from Paudie O'Dwyer and slammed home another goal.

Eamonn Morris
It is fair to day that referee Eamonn Morris had a poor game.
He was fussy and played a huge part in there being little fluency to this contest. It is amazing that there seems to be no sanction for either referees or officials who have 'a bad day at the office' and, on reflection, Eamonn Morris will see that his performance last Sunday in Thurles was far from the standard required.

Qualifier route
So Limerick must now go the qualifier route - a journey that they have travelled in the past, but one would be of the opinion that this journey could be a step too far for this team as the frailities shown up in the league and now in the championship will present a huge challenge to all concerned.
Progress would have been to have won a Munster Championship in 2008, but now that that is in tatters and it will be a real measure of the players if they can rekindle their pride to have a serious cut in the qualifiers.
They will meet one of the beaten Leinster semi-finalists and they would look like having the edge on either of them if some surgery takes place to the team in the intervening weeks.
Opinions, of course, will vary, but I am of the view that the best Limerick team did not start last Sunday and some of the tactics employed never really worked and many of our key players failed to perform. One would have to suggest that the team has made no progress since losing last year's All-Ireland Final.
Many of the basic skills such as first touch hurling are lacking and there has been, and is, a culture amongst a small few within the panel to spend time on the bar stool. That culture has been around Limerick hurling teams over the past few years and those who partake in it are insulting the Limerick jersey and the loyal followers of Limerick hurling. The time has come to issue any player who abuses this situation a P45.

Lack intensity
I have watched more sessions of this Limerick team than most and I also get the opportunity to see many other top teams training in both hurling and football around the country.
The Limerick sessions, to me, seemed to lack the intensity I have witnessed in other counties - the hurling drills are very poor and the speed at which things are done does not match what other counties are doing. Proof of this has been seen in the league and now in the championship. Huge resources have been applied, and rightly so, to the development of the Limerick senior hurling team.
It now costs on average of €3,000 per session to train the team and, given that they have met 97 times since last October, that in itself tells its own story with the costs now facing County Boards to run senior teams. That being the case, one would expect that the very basics of hurling would be well mastered given the amount of sessions done.
First touch, game plan and physical fitness are vital ingredients in the pursuit of a winning formula. What we saw in Thurles suggests that all of the above were well under par.

Critical time
Limerick hurling is now entering a critical time - a time for some reflection for all concerned with it. There is a real need for some of the players within this team to return to ground level because, it would appear that some are still basking in the glory of 2007.
One of the most important ingredients in success is attitude, and where there is a weakness in this, you will find there will be a weakness in the resolve of those concerned.
Limerick players would be well served to concentrate on their hurling and get the basics right.
To win you must develop a work ethic, a 'want to win' syndrome because you will not win easily at this level.
There are many questions to be asked and answered as a result of last Sunday.
The management will have to make some tough calls because Limerick hurling means an awful lot to a lot of people and, in making such calls, people will respect them and support them as they have always done.