And Limerick win… eventually.
Anyone who had nothing to do on Bank Holiday Monday evening and stuck on TG4 was awarded a procrastination feast. Limerick and Clare slugged it out over a full 70 minutes plus injury time, extra time… another period of extra time and then a free-taking shootout.
It truly was a game for the ages. It also took bloody ages to decide. It wasn’t until almost three hours after the throw-in time that a victor finally emerged.
For feck sake, lads… have you no homes to go to??!! I have a dinner to cook!! This game started more than two and a half hours ago!! Massive credit to #Limerick & #Clare hurlers for serving up a thrilling Marathon!#AllianzLeague pic.twitter.com/OVTonOtFHq
— Des Cahill (@sportsdes) March 19, 2018
There were so many times in this game where Limerick looked set to fail, but they always pulled it out of the bag at the crucial moment.
When they were trailing by a solitary point heading into the 73rd minute, a moment of magic from Colin Ryan bought them more time. His side-line cut went right between the posts to force 20 more minutes of action.
Colin Ryan with the equalising point, what a sideline! heading for extra time. pic.twitter.com/nI6MuJzhCd
— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 19, 2018
Then, in the 22nd minute of extra time, Limerick needed a goal to bring things level.
Remarkably, Diarmuid Byrnes bagged one in the 11th hour to force another period of extra time. After playing 20 minutes of extra time already, they would go for another 10.
Diarmaid Byrnes fires it into the net and equalises in extra time. Another round of extra time coming up pic.twitter.com/oEbSycNQcC
— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 19, 2018
They couldn’t be separated after those ten minutes either.
With the game tied at 4-21 to 0-33, they went to the 65-yard line to decide it. However, it started looking like even that wasn’t going to be enough. The first ten frees sailed over the bar bringing it to sudden death.
Unfortunately for the Banner, they missed the mark first. Colin Ryan made absolutely no mistake with his chance to seal the game. He fired it over to secure a memorable victory for Limerick. They took it 7-6 in the shootout.
