This had to be one of the greatest displays of resilience from a Tipperary team. They were down a man, and John McGrath can have no arguments with the red card when, shortly afterwards, Lee Chin fired Wexford five ahead.
Tipp had reorganised and shut down the freedom their opponents had enjoyed in the chaotic defending of the first half. Up to the time of the sending-off, they had wrested back control of the match only to hand Wexford the opportunity to use two spare men at the back.
In response Tipperary absolutely dug in, particularly in defence and around the middle third of the field. More experienced players stepped up, and Séamus Callanan led from the front. In the words of Donie Nealon, the team played "with abandon" and traditionally the county responds well when backs are to the wall.
I thought they were the better team from then on, but they still had to dig deep because Wexford, who weren’t scoring enough, kept in touch with another goal and forced Tipperary to respond yet again, which they did. It was a huge win for them and they produced when required, the Mahers in defence and Noel McGrath around the middle of the field.
They picked off the necessary scores, which Wexford just weren’t able to do.
So, from a position after the Munster final, after which they faced major questions, everything has opened up for them again and they are back to play old rivals Kilkenny – and they will be formidable opponents for them if they build on Sunday’s display.
Attitude
Their attitude in the second half was excellent. A lot was going against them: a red card and three disallowed goals. The Hawk-Eye intervention was highly unusual. There had been a free in the interim and a couple of plays, including a goal, by the stage everything was called back.
In the third incident, Jake Morris scored a goal on an advantage, but was called back. Tipp had to cope with a lot but they responded magnificently – scoring three points immediately after the Hawk-Eye decision, for instance – and showed great temperament to block out all of the difficulties and focus on their game.
Why did Mark Fanning decide to go long with his puck-outs, which played into Tipperary's hands?
Wexford displayed nervousness as they went into the last 10 minutes, made poor decisions and weren’t able to get the crowd fully involved. They also ran out of steam and had to make changes, but didn’t get the bounce off the bench that Tipperary achieved.
They have questions to answer in the second half. Why did Mark Fanning decide to go long with his puck-outs, which played into Tipperary’s hands? They became fatigued and the game they play requires energy.
It was the reverse with Tipp. The listlessness of the Munster final gave way to a more energetic and dynamic display, and Liam Sheedy and his management deserve credit for freshening up the team after a difficult couple of matches. The gap between them and Limerick that looked like a chasm no longer has any relevance.
Inconsistency
The one issue that popped up in both semi-finals was the inconsistency of the refereeing. Even individuals aren’t consistent in the one match. The game has become so much quicker at this stage that you’d have to wonder whether it might be time for two referees.
On that subject, Limerick were wrongly deprived in the first semi-final of an almost-certain equaliser and a shot at extra-time when Darragh O’Donovan’s last-minute lineball was deflected out for what should have been a 65. But largely the surprise defeat was of their own making.
Of all his 16 semi-final wins, Saturday's must have given Brian Cody immense satisfaction. It wasn't a radical blueprint but, given the struggles of recent years, there was a breathtaking quality to how Kilkenny went at it and set the tone for what would be a ferocious challenge to impressive champions.
The champions didn't help themselves with the amount of wides (15) they shot throughout the evening
A couple of the younger players were up and in opponents’ faces straight away. Conor Browne and John Donnelly put their bodies on the line from the start with ferocious hits on Will O’Donoghue – who had been previously, and even again in this match, one of Limerick’s most energetic performers – and Dan Morrissey.
The champions didn’t help themselves with the amount of wides (15) they shot throughout the evening, but it was clear from the start that they had been really rattled by the aggression of their opponents’ opening moves.
In those 10 minutes Cody’s team set out their stall and took the fight to what had been Limerick’s power-centre, the middle third, and the champions struggled to steady themselves in their two key lines, the half backs and half forwards.
Blunted hunger
Whether it was simply the blunted hunger of All-Ireland champions or the now extraordinary hoodoo that afflicts the Munster title holders, Limerick simply weren’t able to cope. That’s not to take away from the incredible commitment of Kilkenny.
When David Reidy had the injury-time goal chance that Eoin Murphy saved, the celebrations in the Kilkenny full-back line underlined the powerful collective commitment that drove the team all evening.
During the first-quarter blitz, they took a steady succession of points, and when Colin Fennelly powered past Seán Finn for a 14th-minute goal, Limerick were in serious trouble. It also showed the leadership of the team's experienced troops, and inevitably TJ Reid was the vanguard.
He is an amazing player and Limerick suffered by not deploying an out-and-out man-marker to try to mitigate his influence. He mightn’t have scored from play but was involved in everything, and his free-taking cranked up the pressure on Limerick throughout the first half.
