GAME AT A GLANCE

MAN OF THE MATCH

Kyle Hayes (Limerick) The youngest player in the final, he showed maturity far beyond his 20 years. In addition to scoring 0-4 from play, three in a crucial stage just after half-time, he won lots of possession and tracked back energetically when required. It was quite a day for Kildimo-Pallaskenry man, who is certain to be a major figure in Limerick hurling for a long time to come.

TALKING POINT

Why were Galway so lethargic, especially in the second and third quarters when Limerick out-scored them by 2-10 to 0-6? Granted, Limerick were playing very well, but that doesn’t account for Galway’s error rate and general sense of inertia. They would have expected their experience to provide some stability but it counted for nothing against such high-energy opposition.

REF WATCH

James Owens finished off the season in the same way as all referees operate nowadays. If ignoring illegal handpassing and over-carrying is acceptable to the refereeing authorities – and that seems to be the case – he did a good job. But here’s the question: why have rules in the first place if they are not applied?

MATCH STATISTICS

WIDES

Galway 16 (10 in first half) Limerick 20 (11)

FREES Galway 15 (6) Limerick 8(5)

YELLOW CARDS

Galway 2(G McInerney 38, P Mannion 44)

Limerick 2 (G Hegarty 30, A Gillane 43)

ATTENDANCE: 82,300 WHAT’S NEXT?

Celebration time in Limerick while Galway face the difficult task of trying to work out why they came nowhere close to performing as they can until stoppage time.